


The Perfect World

by w0b101



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Bad Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-10-29 15:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10857120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w0b101/pseuds/w0b101
Summary: Akira Kurusu has accepted Yaldabaoth's deal, and the world no longer thinks for itself. Akira is using the Phantom Thieves to, at the very least, protect the people within this corrupted world, but things aren't going as well as they could be, and tensions are rising among the Phantom Thieves. Without a doubt, this decision will have profound impacts on the Phantom Thieves, the world, and himself.Based on the "good"(?) ending of Persona 5. Spoilers should be expected.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for choosing this story to peruse for a while. I'm tantalized by the idea of the "good" ending and the developments it might bring in Akira, so I decided to write down my personal take of what might happen to him and the other Thieves. I hope you enjoy the story.

            Akira stared out the window of the classroom with an apathetic blankness to his expression, letting his teachers drone on about whatever it was they wanted to teach today without paying them any attention. He’d always preferred the second year classrooms over the third year’s; being on the ground level was convenient for getting to and from class, sure, but there was nothing interesting to look at out the windows. Just the boring courtyard of Shujin Academy. And with nothing nice to look at, class was truly and utterly a waste of time.

            _No matter,_ he thought to himself as he flicked his phone out from his pocket. _I’ll just peruse the Phan-site for potential targets._ The only thing he found himself doing in class of late was looking for the next person he’d go to Mementos to change, or perhaps the next Palace ruler to take down. And it was easy, too; with the Phan-Site’s near 100% approval rating, almost the entire country of Japan was crying out to them for help. _Don’t worry,_ he thought with a smirk. _I’ll take care of all of them eventually._

            None of the requests in particular really stood out to him, so he just bookmarked them all and decided he’d change them all in one fell swoop next time he got everyone together to go to Mementos. Closing the Phan-site, he started surfing the web for information on his most recent big bust. After all, a bunch of petty criminals getting a change wouldn’t have the same impact this next target would.

            The Chief of Police, Inaho Fukunaga. Akira couldn’t help but scoff; in the past 4 months, he’d taken down more policemen than he could count. Not that he minded taking down another; if the whole institution is corrupt, the only way to solve problems would be to change the whole institution, naturally. But that wasn’t the main reason he was targeting Fukunaga. According to his primary informant, Fukunaga was making some underhanded deals with the express goal of taking out the Phantom Thieves. Akira clicked his tongue within his mouth. That wouldn’t do. He’d already checked the Metanav, and Fukunaga didn’t have a palace, which meant he was probably just some small fry in Mementos. _It’s better that way, if a bit less satisfying._ He made a mental note to bring Fukunaga up at the next Phantom Thieves meeting.

            The Phantom Thieves. His group of crime fighting vigilantes who were socially reforming Tokyo, and Japan as a whole, one twisted heart after another. When he thought of the organization, he always felt a swell of pride in his chest, followed by a pang of guilt. The rest of the Phantom Thieves didn’t know. They had no idea about the deal he’d made with Yaldabaoth, and the fact that Tokyo and Mementos were the same place now. Sometimes he’d blink and see the horrifying Qliphoth world around him, or feel the blood red rain on his back, but fortunately the rest of his friends didn’t seem to notice. They were blind to the truth. Sometimes he wished he could tell them, but this was the only way. Or so he told himself.

            Regardless, since this was how the world was now, it was his job to keep it as good as possible for the people within it. And that’s why criminals like Fukunaga had to go down. He clenched his fist upon his desktop tightly, a firm scowl replacing his expression of apathy and boredom.

            “Akira?” asked Ann from the desk in front of him.

            He was returned to reality by the voice. When he looked around, he saw that classes for the day had ended. Most students had already gotten up and left. _Guess I was so distracted I didn’t notice. . ._ “Hm?” he responded.

            “Are you okay? You seemed kind of out of it.”

            “I’m fine,” he said, grabbing his bag. Morgana wasn’t in it, like he always had been last year – for some reason he hadn’t wanted to accompany Akira out of the house recently.

            “Alright. That’s good to know.” Ann smiled, but it felt . . . rehearsed. Practiced. Things often felt this way when Akira talked to his fellow thieves lately. “Are we meeting at the hideout today?” she asked.

            “Yeah. I’ve got a few targets I want to go over,” he stated casually as he whipped out his phone and fired texts to each of his fellow Phantom Thieves, telling them to meet him at Leblanc for the usual pre-Mementos debriefing. “Want to head over there together?”

            “I would, but I have something I want to take care of beforehand. I’ll meet you there,” said Ann before heading toward the door. Akira gripped his phone tightly, but nodded in her direction. He waited a few minutes. _Guess I’ll go shopping beforehand, since she’ll be late. . ._ He sighed and departed from the classroom, on his way to Central Street.

 

            The rest of the Phantom Thieves arrived long before Akira did. Ann was the last to walk in. “Hey, sorry I’m late, guys. Did you start without me?”

            “No,” said Futaba as she squatted in a booth. “Akira isn’t back yet.”

            “Huh. . .” Ann tapped her chin and thought. “That’s strange. He left before me, so he should be back by now. . .”

            “Eh, probably just went shoppin’ or somethin’.” Ryuji took a long sip from his soda – he still wasn’t a big fan of Leblanc’s coffee. “You know how crazy prepared he likes to be.”

            “It’s true. . . And with how frightening Mementos has been as of late, I cannot say I blame him,” commented Yusuke.

            “Yeah, it’s been pretty scary lately. Every time I scan it, it somehow feels even bigger. . . How are we supposed to get to the bottom like this?”

            Makoto reached up and grabbed her forehead. She grimaced, clenching her teeth tightly. “The bottom . . .?”

            The other Phantom Thieves looked at her with concern. “Remember, Mako-chan? We’re trying to reach the bottom to get Mona-chan’s memories back,” said Haru, though she didn’t seem convinced herself.

            “Right. . . I just feel like I’m forgetting something.” Makoto shook her head and dismissed the thought. “Speaking of Morgana, where is he?”

            “Upstairs,” said Futaba. “He hasn’t come down all day. Hasn’t been eating a lot lately either.”

            “Can’t say I’m surprised. We’ve been runnin’ him ragged in Mementos lately. . . Feels like we’re goin’ almost every day.” Ryuji laughed, though he didn’t do much to lift the mood.

            “It’s weird to see _you_ expressing concern for Morgana, Ryuji. But I agree. Maybe we should take a break,” Ann said, frowning firmly.

            The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Akira walking into Leblanc. All eyes were immediately cast to him, and he responded with a sweeping glance of the room. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked casually as he stepped past Ann and took a seat at the counter.

            “No, we were just talking about how often we’ve been going to Mementos lately. . .” Ann looked around the room, as though silently communicating with the others to see what they thought.

            Makoto was the brave soul to speak up first. “It just seems odd that there’s so many targets. We’ve never had so many back to back to back before. . . Not that we can’t handle it, but still.”

            Surprisingly, Akira responded with a soft smile. “If you all don’t feel up to another outing today, I understand.” He stood up as though the meeting was adjourned then and there. “I can go by myself.”

            “What? No way, dude.” Ryuji stood. “Without even a hint of backup, even you’d have a tough time down there with how it’s been lately. If you’re goin’, I’m goin’.”

            “I’m happy to hear that.” His smile took on the slightest glint of satisfaction as he pulled out his phone. “If we’re alright with going today, we should begin to list off targets.”

            The Phantom Thieves agreed, after worried glances were exchanged. Truth be told, many of them didn’t want to go, but they weren’t comfortable with the idea of Akira or anyone else going and getting outnumbered. So they listened as he began his lightning-round listing of some 10 or 20 criminals from the Phan-Site. Everyone deliberated about each one before deciding it was an okay target.

            “The last target is Inaho Fukunaga,” Akira said as he shut his phone screen off.

            “The captain of police,” Makoto chimed in. “Sis knows him. Apparently he’s been pulling a lot of strings in all sorts of departments. . .”

            “Sounds shady. I don’t like the sound of that one bit,” Ryuji said.

            “Not only that, but he’s trying to take down the Phantom Thieves. A corrupt officer who wants us destroyed is dangerous,” Akira offered, though with a certain coldness to his tone that hadn’t been there before. “Anyone disagree?”

            No one raised their voice. “Then that’s a unanimous decision. Does someone want to get Morgana?” asked Akira as he pushed off the counter behind him, preparing to head to the subway station.

            “I’ll get him.” Futaba rose and walked upstairs, and before long the thieves were on their way to Mementos.

 

 

            Not a lot of conversations took root within Mona as they drove out from the site of their most recent target. The silence was almost suffocating; the only noise was Morgana's engine as they tore through the corrupt underworld. The walls seemed redder, the floor bloodier, as though Mementos was evolving somehow. None of the Thieves liked it, but they didn't understand why, save for Akira, and he didn't mention anything. So they kept to business as usual, pursuing their targets for the night. They’d taken down almost all of them by now, and were steadily making their way down to pick off any stragglers. Joker kept his hands on the wheel and eyes on the rails as always and didn’t allow himself to get distracted by the occasional bit of banter that did arise.

            “Looks like this is the last target of the night,” said Mona, with a notable lack of enthusiasm. “That Fukunaga guy.”

            “Hm. Let’s get him.” Joker drove the bus into the distortion on the wall, and they emerged in Fukunaga’s own little portion of Mementos. The man looked like your cut-and-paste inexperienced police chief; short, poorly kempt hair and a disheveled suit that looked like it had been through one too many nights of dead-end leads. He slowly turned to face the thieves as they filed out of the car, regarding them with hatred in his golden eyes.

            “You’re the Phantom Thieves, aren’t you? You bastards. . .” His entire frame shook. “To think I’d find you here.” The aggression pent up within him let itself loose in a roar of cacophonous laughter, his bellowing almost seeming to shake the foundations of Mementos around them. Joker stood still despite the sound.

            “We’ve come to take your heart,” he said, plainly.

            “Of course you have . . . just like you’ve come to take everyone else’s!” he spat with venom. “You menaces won’t stop until you’ve turned all of Japan into worshipers of your thief cult!”

            “Cut it out, dude,” interrupted Skull. “You’re just upset that even by cutting corners and playing dirty you can’t catch us!”

            “Yeah! You don’t have any room to criticize anyone else’s methods when you’re using underhanded tricks to get what you want,” said Panther.

            Fukunaga’s anger turned into hurt for just a moment. “Of course I have to be underhanded. . . No one else is going to catch you if I don’t!”

            “Why do you want to catch us so badly? You’re letting your desires destroy yourself.” Queen sounded as though she pitied him.

            “Because, like I said, you’re a menace. . . Every day, it’s more hearts changed, more people pleading to the Phantom Thieves. I used to look up to you, when you took on big name criminals and seemed to be saving Japan. . . But now you just spit on everyone who disagrees with you!”

            “That’s . . .” Noir spoke up to contest this, but found herself at a loss for words. All of the Phantom Thieves did.

            “I don’t care what I have to do!” shouted the shadow of Fukunaga, his rage shaking the room. “I’ll get rid of you Phantom Thieves, and save everyone whose hearts you’re forcing to change!” With that, he was swallowed by the pools of black ooze around him until he burst free in streams of black and red filth. The police captain was replaced by an angel of sorts, wrapped in a pure white robe that looked almost as though it didn’t belong in a world as corrupt as Mementos.

            “He’s getting ready to fight! Everyone, on your guard!” called Futaba as she summoned her Persona, Necronomicon, and let it scoop her up.

            Joker was the first to take aggressive action. He tore his mask off. “Arsene!” His voice echoed through the tunnels as the devious Trickster manifested behind him and swiped its claws toward the angel. Fukunaga’s shadow roared in pain as his form was torn by the rending claws, but it counterattacked – it conjured clouds above Akira, and with the force of the heavens, a golden fist slammed down on top of him.

            Arsene took the brunt of the blow, but the fist still sent Akira to the ground, black and white spots clouding his vision as he struggled to retain his special awareness. “Mona, I need some help. . .” He pressed his hand to the ground and tried to push himself up, but even after a while, the help hadn’t come. He’d regained enough awareness to be able to see the world around him, and he looked to see what possibly could’ve been holding Mona up.

            Nothing.

            The rest of the Phantom Thieves stood in defensive positions, sure, but they took no action. They looked at the angel as though it was an enemy they didn’t want to fight; their morale looked shaky at best. Even Mona, who was usually rearing to go with any fight in Mementos, seemed hesitant.

            “Guys?” he called toward them, before dodging another blow from the shadow. “I need some help!”

            “R-Right!” Skull shook his head and summoned Captain Kidd to fire a surging wave of lightning toward the shadow. Black ooze was blasted off of its form as it cried out.

            “Damn Phantom Thieves. . . Why!? Why do you refuse anyone who doesn’t fall in line with your ideals!?” he shouted before unleashing a ray of white light at Skull, whose knees buckled under the weight of the blow.

            “Skull!” Panther clenched her teeth and summoned Carmen, letting the fire dance across the form of the angel.

            “Guys, I’m not happy about this either, but right now survival is most important!” Futaba insisted as Necronomicon channeled energy toward the active roster. The comment seemed to be just enough to shake them from their daze as they all sprang into action as well, prepared to fight.

           

            Arsene tore the angel’s head from its shoulders as the shadow collapsed back into the pool of black gunk it had spawned from, until eventually only the Fukunaga with golden eyes remained. He looked up at his adversaries with fear and hate in his eyes. “Fine. . . I get it. Even if I believe what I’m doing is just, it isn’t fair to get what I want by stepping on others. . . I’ll go back now. But I think you all should think about that lesson as well. . .”

            Yet another collective pang of guilt shot through the Phantom Thieves as Fukunaga started to dematerialize, until eventually all that remained was his treasure. Joker snatched it from the air quickly before turning to face the exit. “Nice work, team. That’s the last target. Are we going back?”

            “Joker, hold on. You can’t seriously expect us to not talk about that.” Mona looked up at their leader.

            “Is something wrong?”

            “I dunno’. . .” Panther held her elbow and rocked from side to side, as though cradling herself. “All the things he said seemed kind of right, didn’t they?”

            “I don’t wanna admit it, but . . . yeah. Just listenin’ to the things he said really riled me up. . .” Skull sighed, seeming uncharacteristically resigned.  

            Yusuke looked as though he was truly in anguish. “Could we have become blind a second time? Are we only working to further our own agendas . . .?”

            This time, it was Oracle’s turn to grimace. The petite girl grabbed her head and grimaced, pants and grunts of pain escaping her from time to time. Noir grabbed her shoulder. “O-Oracle, are you alright?!” she asked frantically.

            “N-No . . . I mean, yeah, but . . .” She slowly steadied herself as the pain faded. “I can’t help but feel like I’m supposed to remember something. . .”

            “I had that same feeling earlier today. . . _Are_ we forgetting something?” asked Queen, concern laid plain across her face.

            The next sound was one no one had expected; Joker laughed. Not heartily, nor haughtily, as he often did in the Metaverse, but dismissively. “Maybe today’s outing was a bad idea. I think we’re all a little exhausted. . .”

            “. . . Yes, that’s probably the case,” said Mona, though he still eyed Joker. “We should suspend Metaverse activities until we’re all feeling up to it.”

            “Good idea. As for what Fukunaga said, we’ve never questioned ourselves before. . . No one else can do this. It’s our job to administer justice, right?”

            “Yeah. . .” Skull cracked his neck to relieve some stress. “And besides, it’s not like these people’d have shadows if their desires weren’t distorted. I still wonder why so many of ‘em are showing up, but we can’t be in the wrong here.”

            “That’s right. Now come on. Let’s go home.” Joker strolled toward the exit casually, leaving the rest of his team dumbfounded. With nothing left to do, they resigned and followed him.

 

            Akira opened the door to Leblanc and stepped inside, muscles weary from a long day in the Metaverse. “I’m beat. Let’s get some sleep, yeah?” he said to the cat inside his bag. Sojiro wasn’t there – they’d gotten back pretty late, so that wasn’t too much of a surprise.

            “Huh? Oh, yeah. . . I’m tired too.” Morgana didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic about talking as he hopped down from within the bag and onto a table.

            Akira frowned. “Is something bothering you? Come to think of it, you haven’t been leaving the house much often. . .”

            “I just . . .” Morgana sighed. “Everything seems different lately, you know? More Mementos operations, everyone doubting themselves. . . And we still haven’t reached the bottom, or gotten my memories back. Doesn’t that feel weird to you?”

            “I don’t know what you mean.”

            “There’s something we’re forgetting. I know there is. Whenever I think about what’s at the bottom of Mementos, my head hurts. . . It never used to do that before.” There was a grave seriousness in Morgana’s voice.

            “. . .” Akira did his best not to look guilty. “That sounds bad,” he said, as though he had no idea what could possibly be happening. 

            “Yeah . . . But maybe I’m just tired. I’m sure I’ll feel better with a little bit of rest.” He stood from the table and started trotting toward the stairs, though didn’t sound like he convinced himself. “I’m gonna turn in. Goodnight.”

            “. . . Night.” Akira scowled once the cat was out of his field of vision and started pacing toward the stairs himself, though he was interrupted by his phone going off.

            He expected the Phantom Thieves group chat, but surprisingly, the text was from Futaba. It wasn’t a surprise or anything; they were dating after all, but she hadn’t messaged him privately in weeks. With the recent surge of Phantom Thieves activity, they hadn’t had a lot of time to get together.

            He read the messages.

Futaba: _Hey, Akira. . . Are you doing alright?_

            Akira: _Huh? What do you mean?_

            Futaba: _I just mean with all the operations recently. I hope you’re not running yourself down._

            Akira chuckled. He was the _last_ person anyone needed to be concerned about.

            Akira: _I’m fine. And if I’m not, we’re taking a break soon anyway, so I’ll have plenty of time to rest up._

            Futaba: _That’s good. I’m glad to hear you’re feeling okay. After that hit you took today, I was worried. . ._

            Futaba: _Um, speaking of that break. . . We haven’t done anything together in so long. It feels like it’s been forever since our last date. We should go out and have some fun, just the two of us._

            Akira smiled at the thought. Getting bogged down by Phantom Thieves work and abandoning his personal connections was the last thing he wanted to do, even if his work as a Phantom Thief was important.

            Akira: _That sounds great. How does tomorrow sound?_

            Futaba: _Really?_

Akira: _Really._

            Futaba: _Awesome! I’m really excited!_

            Futaba: _We can hang out in your room and play games like we used to! You better be prepared, because I’m gonna kick your butt! >:) _

Akira: _Sounds like a plan. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow._

Futaba: _Super! Goodnight. I love you!_

            Akira: _Goodnight._

            Akira closed his instant messaging app and headed upstairs to go to bed, but something on the TV caught his attention.

            A newscaster spoke. “. . . and this is what he had to say about the recent ‘change of heart’ of Chief of Police Inaho Fukunaga.”

            The screen cut to a fit looking man – he couldn’t have been more than forty. He looked more like a politician than a policeman, but the caption at the bottom said he was the Commissioner General – Akira didn’t recognize him, but judging by the amount of mics in his face he was popular. He spoke with a calm clarity to his voice.

            “I don’t know who these Phantom Thieves think they are,” said the man in the white suit, “but I’ve come to the conclusion that they must be stopped. They spew rhetoric about how ‘blind’ the people in this country are, yet now the country blindly follows the Phantom Thieves. It’s clear that these ‘saviors’ are really just brats on an ego trip. I will be devoting all efforts to the apprehension of these heinous criminals. These people who go around changing the world as they please to create their own ‘utopia’ surely aren’t considering the terror of the masses who they claim to be protecting.” The intensity with which he spoke built over time, and the anger in his eyes seemed to bore directly through the TV and into Akira.

            “That was our Commissioner General, Mashiro Natsukawa.” The woman continued to speak, but Akira shut the TV off.

            He held the remote so tightly that his whole arm shook. Seething rage built up within him until he could hardly contain it. He set the remote down, for fear of breaking it, and opened the Phantom Thieves group chat.

            Akira: _Meet me at the diner tomorrow. We have something to discuss._

            He didn’t check to see if there were any replies; he went upstairs to rest, knowing he had a big day tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsukawa's statements on TV leave Akira furious, and he decides action must be taken.

            “Huh? You want to go to Mementos . . . _today_?” asked Futaba.

            Akira nodded from his seat at the head of the table. Around him, the rest of the Phantom Thieves were gathered, though they didn’t look any less surprised than Futaba.

            “What’s goin’ on, man? I thought we said we were takin’ a break.” Ryuji leaned forward, a hint of concern in his voice.

            Akira leaned back, brow furrowed in annoyance. “I wanted to, but did you watch the news last night?”

            “Oh, that’s what this is about. . .” Makoto sighed. “I saw the report when Sis and I ate dinner. It looks like we’ve attracted the attention of someone pretty serious. . .”

            “Exactly. I don’t feel good about leaving this one sit for too long. We have no idea what he’s capable of, after all.”

            “Hold on, Akira. . .” Ann spoke up. “I get that he sounds pretty serious about taking down the Phantom Thieves, but . . . I-I don’t mean to say I _doubt_ you or anything, but has he even done anything wrong yet?”

            “Ann brings up a good point.” Yusuke crossed his arms in thought. “Simply being our enemy is not a crime worthy of a change of heart.”

            “And remember what Fukunaga said? If we pursue him simply because he criticized the Phantom Thieves, then wouldn’t that just mean he was right . . .?” Haru stared down at the table, dejection written clearly across her face.

            Akira twitched. “Still, isn’t it at least worth an investigation? He may not have done anything wrong, but what if we go down there and find his shadow, ready to confess to all sorts of things?”

            “That isn’t how we target people,” proclaimed Morgana. “We’ve never pursued a target on the basis of ‘what if they’re bad?’ before.”

            “I’m not sure I get it, but I think Mona’s right, dude. . .” Ryuji seemed worried as he looked to Akira. “I’m pissed off about what he said too, but this seems a little sketchy.”

            “What do you think, Futaba?” asked Makoto, turning toward the girl. Futaba sat quietly in her seat, looking into her lap as though someone had just given her some particularly bad news.

            “O-Oh, huh? I, uh, I think we should stick to the plan of taking a break. If we don’t have a target that needs eliminating,” she replied with a nervous laugh. Everyone regarded her with a hint of surprise, but nonetheless returned their attention to Akira.

            “I’m sorry, Akira, but the unanimous decision rule is in place for a reason. I don’t think we have to pursue Natsukawa until he takes more clear action against us, or is plainly accused of having done something wrong.” Morgana spoke firmly, almost suspiciously, toward his leader.

            Akira sat silently for a while as his friends’ eyes bored into him. He clenched his fists underneath the table, but wore a smile on the outside nonetheless. “You guys are right. I guess I’m just a little paranoid with the police lately, given what almost happened a few months ago. . .” He laughed casually, almost too casually as he stood.

            “Hey, no problem man. We ain’t mad or anything.” Ryuji stood as well. “The break’ll be good for us, though. When we get back, we’ll see if anyone deserves a good Phantom Thief ass-kickin’.”

            “Right. Sorry to drag you all out here for nothing. . . I’ll see you all later.” Akira pulled his bag over his shoulder, electing to leave Morgana behind as he exited the diner. They watched him go, sitting in silence until they were brave enough to disperse as well.

            Akira waited and made sure none of the others were around anymore. After closely checking to make sure no one was watching, he activated the Meta-Nav.

 

           

            Getting through Mementos without a car was hard. Extremely so, considering Mementos grew in size each and every day now. Joker was far from weak, but taking out the massive clumps of shadows without a team pushed him to his strategic limits. Not only that, but trying to elude those that chased him without his vehicle wore down on even his remarkable endurance, leaving him panting by the time he was ready to confront Natsukawa’s shadow.

The Meta-Nav confirmed it; the commissioner general had one. Joker snickered to himself. _I knew I was right,_ he thought, ready to hear all the crimes that the man had committed. He hopped into the distorted wall and emerged on the other side.

            Shadow Natsukawa looked just like he had on TV the other night, the only distinction being the sickening yellow eyes that scanned over Joker with an intense hatred. He took a few cautious steps toward the phantom, but stopped when Joker raised his gun, pointing it squarely at the commissioner general’s chest.

            “What brings you here, Natsukawa?” he asked, somehow sounding even cockier than usual.

            “A Phantom Thief. . . Hmph.” Natsukawa crossed his arms. “Figured there’d be more of you.”

            “I don’t need help taking out someone like you.” He smiled arrogantly.

            The shadow seemed to quake with annoyance before an outburst of colossal proportions. “That attitude is exactly why someone has to take you punks down!” He dug his feet into the floor, tearing up the ground beneath him. “Where do you get off, anyway? Is it the fame? Money? What even motivates you to keep going?”

“Taking out criminals like you is all the reward I need,” he said, calmly, though he was only saying it to get a rise out of the shadow. Joker held back his laughter as Shadow Natsukawa roared again.

“What!? Calling me a criminal!? I’ve done nothing wrong! The only criminal here is you!” he shouted.

“Sheesh, you’re oddly defensive.” Joker scratched the side of his head, acting as though he were in deep thought. “Sounds like something someone who’s hiding stuff would say. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The unchecked arrogance of the Phantom Thief finally snapped the shadow’s temper. “I’ll rip you to shreds! I’ll kill you, and when the tale of the Phantom Thieves ends, Japan will have a new idol! Commissioner General, Mashiro Natsukawa, will have saved this disillusioned public! I’ll become their God!”

            Joker’s smirk grew in size; he’d gotten a confession that he wanted. “A desire like ‘wanting to be a God’ is more than enough to warrant action on my part. I’ll be taking your rotten heart.”

            “Gr . . . I’m gonna kill you!” the shadow bellowed before it burst into stagnant black liquid. It emerged as a golden haired man, wrapped only in a pink sheet, with flowers blooming from its head and the bushes around its feet. It seemed far too flamboyant for a man with a face as hard as Natsukawa’s, but Joker only found himself smiling at the devolution. He prepared to summon his persona and fight.

 

            “Take this, brat!” A blast of spectral wind conjured itself from the creature’s hand and blew Joker off of his feet, sending him tumbling back across the floor of Mementos. His back scraped across the rough floor underneath him, and he found himself coughing and wheezing as the air was robbed from him by the heavy impact. Shadow Natsukawa laughed at him. “The people don’t want justice! They just want a convenient hero! That is why I must thank you, Phantom Thief – you’ve set me up quite well! With your downfall here, I shall truly ascend!” He fired another torrent of wind and another slew of insults. “I expected the Phantom Thieves to be more powerful! You’re nothing compared to someone as godly as myself!”

            Pushing himself up from the floor, Joker grimaced. “Godly? Don’t make me laugh!” He reached into his coat and pulled out his pistol, firing as many rounds as the gun could hold at the creature. The bullets plunged into its flesh, black ooze shooting out from the holes the cognitive bullets created. One shot struck particularly close to the heart of the shadow and it reared backwards, giving Joker some much needed time to tear off his mask and summon his persona. “Ravish him!” he shouted with rage as Arsene manifested behind him, finishing off the shadow with a swipe of its leg.

            The shadow crumpled back into its original form, that of Mashiro Natsukawa. It kneeled on all fours, bowing to Joker, doing a complete one eighty in respects to its original behavior. “I-I’m sorry. . . You’re right. I don’t –“

            Joker let out a steely laugh. “Spare your confession. I don’t care what you have to say.”

            “Y-You . . . you don’t?” The shadow looked up, seeming almost hopeful for a moment.

            “No. I don’t. I only want one thing from you.” Joker reloaded his gun and slowly, calmly, pointed it right between his adversary’s eyes.

            The shadows eyes widened, sweat forming on its forehead as he looked down the barrel of the gun. “W-Wait, you’ve won! I-I’ll change – I see now that I was wrong! I’m not a god! Manipulating the public is inexcusable! See? I get it! So don’t shoot! I beg of you!”

            Another cold laugh escaped from Joker. “Watching you beg is amusing. But I’m not going to kill you. Just going to send a message.” He shifted his aim from the shadow’s forehead to its right shoulder and pulled the trigger.

            “Agh!” The shadow cried in pain and gripped the hole the bullet had made, writhing in agony as it collapsed to the floor.

            “Leave the Phantom Thieves alone. Remember that, okay?”

            “I-I will! I p-promise! Can I p-please go now?” begged Natsukawa.

            “Get out of my sight.” Joker felt inclined to spit on the pitiful thing, but was satisfied to just watch it whimper as it faded from the realm, leaving behind only the bud of a treasure and a puddle of blood. He pocketed it and smiled, satisfied. _I knew he was bad news. They’ll thank me for this later,_ he thought, before preparing for his long waltz back to the surface.

 

            He arrived home late at night, completely and utterly exhausted. Fighting in the Metaverse under _usual_ circumstances had always left him drained, but being alone the whole time _and_ being without a car had left him feeling like he might pass out at any moment. He could barely squeak out a hello to Sojiro as he came inside.

            “Oh, you were out?” Sojiro raised his eyebrows. “I thought you were upstairs.”

            Akira tilted his head, mind fuzzy. “No, I haven’t been home. . . What made you think that?” he asked with a chuckle.

            “Well, Futaba said you two were going to play games today, and she’s up there, so I figured you would be too.”

            Akira was shaken from his fatigue-induced daze by the memory of the commitment he’d made last night, before any of the Natsukawa business started. He’d promised her that they could play games today. On their break, which he’d told her would be a good thing. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, regret overtaking him.

            “Oh boy. . . I know that look.” Sojiro found himself frowning at Akira’s reaction. “You should get up there soon.”

            All Akira did was nod and head toward the stairs. Sure enough, when he ascended, there she was; sitting in one of his folding chairs, all by herself, playing a game she’d beaten countless times. The reflection of the screen in her glasses made it harder to read her expression, but even then he could tell she looked immensely disappointed. He cleared his throat and tried to enter casually.

            “Oh. You’re back. . .” Futaba forced a weak smile to her face, although it was anything but genuine.

            “Look, Futaba, I’m sorry. . . I got completely –“

            “You were in the Metaverse, weren’t you?” she asked, the smile disappearing from her face, replaced with a blankness that frightened Akira. Her observation was spot on, and it showed – he took a shocked step backwards.

            “. . . How did –“

            “The fact that you didn’t show up for our date was a bit of a tell . . . and then there’s the fact that you completely ignored all of the texts I sent asking where you were. You’re not the type of guy to leave me _completely_ in the dark, so I figured you must’ve been somewhere your phone couldn’t work. I put two and two together. It wasn’t hard.” She pressed the buttons on her controller with a bit more force.

            Every piece of her deduction was spot on, leaving Akira overwhelmed. He tried to stagger out an explanation. “I’m so sorry. . . I just couldn’t stand leaving that guy at large.”

            “Natsukawa? Did he have a shadow?”

            “He did,” Akira said with a nod, feeling as though he might gain some ground and find a way to justify himself. “And his shadow said some pretty awful stuff. He was only taking us down because he wanted to be this society’s God –“

            “You broke our rule. Everyone’s going to be mad at you.” The clarity with which she spoke terrified Akira, but what hurt him more was the sadness in her tone. He’d never intended to upset her like this.

            “I-I . . . I did it for their own good. They don’t know what the police can do to them,” he insisted, firmly believing in his words. “They didn’t experience it firsthand.”

            Futaba shot him a piercing glare. “Are you sure that’s the reason? Are you trying to protect everyone, or are you just on an ego trip yourself?”

            This comment left Akira truly taken aback. He tried to formulate a response, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

            Futaba continued. “I’ve been thinking about what Fukunaga said. . . He’s absolutely right. Ever since we took down Shido, we’ve done so much in the name of ‘protecting the Phantom Thieves,’ but that’s not what we’ve been doing at all. We’ve just been purging people who disapprove of us under the premise of them being ‘corrupt.’ Do you even care about helping people anymore –“

            “You don’t understand a thing!” he snapped back at her with a bit too much intensity, leaving her dumbfounded. “You’re spewing accusations, but you don’t know anything about what I’m going through! Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you and the others! _All_ I care about is protecting the Phantom Thieves! That’s why I have to take them all down!”

            With each word, Futaba flinched in fear. She’d never seen Akira so angry, and the rage on his usually calm, kind face left her quaking by the time he’d finished.

            He realized what he’d done, but it was too late to fix anything. “. . . Futaba, I’m sorry. I didn’t –“

            “I’m going home,” she said, sniffling as the tears welled in her eyes.

            She stood to go, but Akira continued. “I didn’t mean it. . . I’ve been going through a lot, and—“

            “I’m not going to tell everyone that you went to the Metaverse. They’ll find out for themselves soon enough, anyway. . .” She brushed past him.

            “Futaba, wait! Please!” he pleaded.

            “I know I might not understand everything, but that’s only because you’re keeping secrets from me.” He froze in place as she turned to face him. She spoke through her tears. “I’ve known something was wrong for months now. . . But I don’t care anymore. I just hope one day you’ll trust me enough to tell me about it.” And then, with nothing more to say, she left.

            Akira didn’t know what to feel. Part of him was furious that he’d wound up a part of this situation – another part of him was guilty, knowing that this was still his fault. The one thing all sides of himself could agree on, however, was the despair that rooted itself in his chest. He collapsed into the bed, feeling as though he didn’t have the strength to stand anymore. He pulled out his phone, hoping something, _anything_ could make his day better, but the only notifications there caused his heart to sink even more; Futaba’s messages from earlier. The stream of texts started with messages like “Sorry about what happened at the diner, but I’m still really excited to hang out today,” and “On my way! Can’t wait!” and ended with things like “Are you coming at all?” With every message he read, his heart sank a little more, and his anger grew a little stronger.

            He threw his phone across the room, hoping it would provide him some hint of catharsis, but he didn’t feel any better as it clattered to the floor. A sigh escaped his weary lips as he leaned back and tried his best to rest. _I’m doing the right thing, aren’t I?_ he thought.

            He scowled. _Of course I am. This is the only way we can keep everyone safe. The only way we can be happy. They can resent me for it if they want._

            Akira wasn’t at all satisfied with how things had developed, but he went to sleep, knowing that there was nothing else he could do. And confident that the path he was taking was the right one.

 

            Ann burst into Ryuji’s classroom as soon as the lunch bell rang and marched up to his desk. “Ryuji! We gotta talk!”

            Ryuji jumped, awoken from his mid-lecture nap by the outburst. He groaned. “Why’d you go and wake me up, man? You know how hard it is to sleep without Mr. Ushimaru catching you. . . Every minute was like a trophy!”

            “That’s not important. Have you checked the news on your phone at all?” she asked, urgently scrolling through articles.

            “No. . . Why?” Ryuji asked, sensing that something was off. He pulled his phone out and checked his homepage. “Wait – No way!”

            The first article read “Top Story! Commissioner General resigned from office.”

            “All the stories say that yesterday he started spewing apologies and regretful statements about how it was ‘unbecoming’ for someone so ‘self-centered’ and ‘egotistical’ to be running the police. Does that sound suspicious to you?”

            “This has gotta be a joke. . . Do you think he had a change of heart?” asked Ryuji. “But we said we weren’t gonna go after the guy! Could there be other Persona users?” he whispered, trying not to catch anyone’s ear.

            “I don’t think it was other persona users. . .” Ann fell silent for a moment.

            “Ann? Yo, Ann?” Ryuji leaned forward. “Somethin’ wrong?”

            “Akira’s not in class today.”

            The look of shock on Ryuji’s face was one of a kind.

 

            The thieves gathered in the Shibuya subway station. It was the closest spot where they could meet right after school, since the subject of conversation was so urgent. Discussion began immediately once everyone had arrived.

            “What the hell!? I don’t get this at all!” Ryuji slammed his fist into the railing.

            “Calm down! We’re in public, we can’t be so loud!” Makoto insisted, but Ryuji fired right back.

            “How the hell can I be calm when our leader, my best bud, is goin’ AWOL on us!? This is seriously effed up!”

            “I agree with you, Ryuji, but we must remain calm. As I have often said, panic brings no progress—“

            Ryuji interrupted Yusuke. “I ain’t panickin’! I just don’t believe this shit for a second. It’s gotta be someone else, yeah?”

            “It’s not,” Morgana insisted. “Akira wasn’t in Leblanc this morning. Futaba checked with Boss, too; he left in the middle of the night. No one’s seen him since.”

            “You don’t think he’s gone to the Metaverse again, do you?” Haru asked, frightfully.

            “Quit accusin’ him of stuff! Akira hasn’t done anything wrong!” Ryuji shouted. Haru flinched.

            “Ryuji, stop. You’re scaring everyone.” Ann set a hand on his shoulder, but Ryuji shrugged it off. He prepared another comment, but everyone fell silent at Futaba’s outburst.

            “Fighting isn’t going to fix anything!” Her shoulders quaked as she spoke, and the intensity from the usually flippant girl made everyone truly realize the stakes. “I talked to Akira last night. . . He did go to the Metaverse without us, and he did change Natsukawa’s heart.”

            “I . . .” Ryuji’s shoulders slumped, defeated. “I just don’t get it. What reason would he have to go behind our backs? We’ve always been there for each other.”

            “Uhm. . .” Haru raised a hand as though asking for permission, her voice weak. “I don’t mean to disrespect Akira, but has anyone else thought he’s been acting strange lately?”

            “I figured he was just frustrated with work, but now I think it’s undeniable that there’s something different about him.” Makoto crossed her arms. “But what could that be?”

            “Well, let us go over the facts. It’s imperative that we solve this case, not only for the victims’ sakes, but for Akira’s as well.” Yusuke looked around to see if anyone had any propositions.

            “Let’s start by recounting his recent behavior. When was the first time someone noticed something odd about Akira?” Makoto asked.

            Futaba looked down. “It was around December, I think. . . He started saying weird stuff when we were together, about protecting me and the Phantom Thieves. I thought it was sweet, but as we started taking on more and more targets, I started to get worried.”

            “Futaba. . . I didn’t even think about how hard this must be for you. You two are dating, so this must be really tough. . .” Ryuji kicked the floor. “I’m sorry for shoutin’.”

            She shook her head. “It’s okay. This is all really frustrating, so I understand completely. But there's nothing we can do now except look at the facts.”

            "That's our Futaba-chan," said Haru encouragingly, trying to lift not just Futaba's spirit, but her own. "So what else can we think of?"

            “Hm. . . I think Futaba is right. It _was_ around New Years that we started primarily targeting policemen and lawmakers who denounced the Phantom Thieves. Most of them were members of Shido’s conspiracy who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals,” said Makoto.

            “And that’s around when we started going to Mementos so much more often. . . Almost every day.” Haru furrowed her brow and thought. “Now that I think about it, why haven’t we reached the bottom of Mementos yet?”

            “I thought it was because it was getting bigger,” Ann said.

            Morgana licked his paw. “I don’t think that’s a suitable excuse if we think about it realistically. If we went every single day with the goal of progress in mind, getting to the bottom would have been child’s play.”

            “I guess we were just too focused on the targets,” said Ryuji.

            “But we’ve gotten so much stronger. I don’t remember ever leaving Mementos recently because we were _tired,_ only because we were finished for the day. It’s almost as if. . .” Yusuke trailed off.

            “What, are you sayin’ he didn’t _want_ to get to the bottom?” asked Ryuji.

            A collective wave of pain shot through the Phantom Thieves. They brought their hands to their heads and grimaced, all experiencing agony as their minds fought against the chains placed on them, struggling to recall the memories that had been sealed away.

            “I . . . I remember . . .!” choked out Morgana. “I remember everything!”

            Slowly, the pain turned to exhaustion, leaving all the teenagers struggling for breath. They looked around at one another, each of them remembering the horrific Qliphoth this world had become, the depths of Mementos, the Holy Grail – everything.

            “We . . . we disappeared, didn’t we?” asked Ryuji.

            “We must’ve. . . And Akira did something to bring us back. That’s what he’s been hiding from us,” said Morgana, with an uncharacteristic clarity to his voice.

            “But what’d he do? I wasn’t there by the time it ended, but I’m pretty sure he was disappearin’ too.”

            “. . . Yaldabaoth.” Morgana scowled.

            “Yaldawho?” asked Ryuji. “You never explain anything, huh?”

            “I’ll tell you guys everything on the way. For now, we need to get moving. Fast. We need to get to the bottom of Mementos as soon as possible, before any more damage is done.”

            “But Mementos is huge now. . . And we’re at a considerable disadvantage without Akira.” As their tactician, Makoto was worried, but surprisingly, Futaba was the one to reassure them.

            “We’ll all just have to pull double our own weight then. If this is what Morgana thinks we have to do, then we just have to do it, for everyone. And for him.” The group echoed the determination in her voice and expression, all nodding.

            “It’s a unanimous decision then. Let’s go, everyone!” said Morgana, as the Phantom Thieves prepared for their next heist.  


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves fight their way back to the bottom of Mementos, determined to right what has gone wrong. Akira has other plans, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quicker update this time. I just couldn't help myself! I hope you enjoy.

            Everyone was drained before they’d even arrived at the bottom of Mementos; it had been hours since they entered, and their trek to the bottom had been filled with non-stop fighting. The shadows were relentless, too, almost as if they knew what the Phantom Thieves were trying to do, and refused to let them do it. Fortunately, however, the rest stops were still safe.

            “Finally. . .” Skull rested his hands on his knees and panted raggedly. “We can catch a break.”

            “Ugh, I just wanna pass out. . .” Panther barely pulled herself to the seats in the center of the passageway before collapsing onto one.

            Fox leaned against the wall and sighed. “Who knew it could be so difficult to eliminate shadows without our leader?”

            “And there’s so many of them, too. . . We’ve been heavily outnumbered in almost every fight. It’s a wonder we’ve made it this far at all,” said Queen. “Speaking of, how close are we to the bottom, Oracle?”

            “I think we’re getting really close. . . According to my scanner, anyway. But who knows how deep it really is?” she said, not sounding confident in any way.

            “I hope it’s soon. . . I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” said Noir. Everyone nodded their agreement.

            “Why all the negativity?” Mona hopped up on a chair and crossed his arms. “If you’re giving up now, we’re never gonna reach the bottom.”

            “Hey, no one said anything about givin’ up. We can still keep pushin’.” Skull allowed himself to smile despite the dire situation. “After all, this is the only way we can stop that Yaldabaoth guy you told us about from doin’ whatever he wants, yeah?”

            “Not only that, but this is the only way we can save Joker. We have to do this,” said Oracle with a steely resolve.

            “Yaldabaoth. . . Who knew humanity would give birth to something so awful?” Queen thought aloud.

            “It is quite morbid. . . But Mona is certain we will find him at the bottom of Mementos, so our only choice is to keep going. Is everyone ready?” asked Fox.

            Determined, they all stood and continued on their way.

           

 

            “Holy shit. . .” Skull stared up at the massive gate to the depths of Mementos, watching as people’s shadows filtered their way through the doors on either side. “It looks even bigger than last time!”

            “Well, that makes sense,” said Mona. “Mementos is getting bigger down here, which means it’s getting bigger up there too, so the prison needs more space for more people.”

            “This is awful. . . I can’t believe anyone would think this is okay,” said Oracle with disgust. “We’ve got to put a stop to it.”

            “We shall steal their god and put an end to his wicked ambitions once and for all,” said Fox.

            “Well said. Let’s go, everyone!” Mona led the charge forward, but about halfway toward the door they stopped.

            They weren’t sure when he arrived, or if he’d been there the whole time and they hadn’t noticed, but standing in front of the door to the depths was a boy they knew well. He leaned against the door and tossed a knife up and down, perhaps to calm his nerves, perhaps to intimidate. The mask on his face obscured it as intended, so no one knew what Joker was thinking as he stared them down.

            “Joker,” said Mona.

            “I had a feeling you guys were going to come down here.” He pushed off the wall and caught the knife simultaneously, lowering it to his side. “I take it this means you remember everything.”

            “Yes. We remember all of it – all the horrible things Yaldabaoth is doing,” said Queen, somewhat aggressively. It pained her to stand opposite of Joker, but she had to at least try to exert some dominance in the interaction.

            “Then you understand what’s going to happen to all of you if we try to stop him,” said Joker. “There’s no winning this.”

            “Even if there’s no winning, I can’t stand idly by while Yaldabaoth does whatever he wants. It’s my mission to stop him.” Mona took a step forward, shoulders squared, his tiny frame filled with purpose in every movement.

            “You’re all gonna die if he finds out you’ve remembered!” said Joker, assertively.

            Panther shook her head. “Society is more cognitive of us now! There’s no way we’ll just instantly disappear. Even if he _tries_ to make us fade away, we’ll at least have a little time to take him down!”

            Joker shook his head. “Even if you don’t disappear right away, he’ll just kill you. You don’t know how strong he is – he’s a god, Panther. You can’t stop him!”

            “At the risk of sounding cliché, we cannot let fear stop us from doing what needs to be done. If we must confront death, then so be it. This world of ruin cannot be allowed to continue. Surely you understand this, Joker!” insisted Fox.

            “Like I’m saying, you guys are the ones who don’t understand. . .” Joker brought his hands to his head and gripped it tightly. “Why . . .? Why are you all working so hard to dismantle everything I’ve done? I put all this in place to protect you!”

            “And we appreciate you trying to protect us, Joker – but not at this cost. This is hurting the world, and you. . .” Noir set her hands over her chest. “Please stop carrying this burden alone!”

            “I’m not alone! I have you guys . . . but I won’t anymore if you go through with this! So please, listen to me!” he shouted, sounding more desperate than commanding.

            Oracle analyzed Joker, trying to suppress the pain in her heart and speak calmly. “You shouldn’t try to stop us, Joker – no, Akira. We’re doing what we have to do. If you really care so much about us, you won’t stand in our way. We can help each other. . .” Her voice cracked as her calm façade faded ever so slightly. “You don’t know how much it hurts me to see you like this. I love you, Akira . . . I can’t stand the fact that you’re hurting yourself. So please, let me help!”

            He visibly grimaced, clutching the sides of his head as though pain were shooting through it. Joker writhed, but eventually the agony passed, and he reached into his coat’s inside pocket. He pulled out his gun and pointed it squarely at Oracle.

            Tears fell behind her goggles, but she had to be strong – she stared down the barrel of the gun defiantly, trying to look as though she weren’t immensely pained.

            Noir gasped. “Joker, please stop!”

            Skull stepped in front of Oracle, growling. “What the hell, man!? This ain’t like you!”

            Joker sighed. “I know. And the last thing I want is to hurt any of you. But . . . I can’t allow you all to kill yourselves like this.”

            Panther was growing irritated. “Why are you being so stubborn? Can’t you see this is what we want? We’re your friends, and if you’re our friend too, then—“

            “Be quiet,” he said, shifting his aim to the floor. He fired, the warning shot ricocheting past the Phantom Thieves, the sound of gunfire echoing through the hall. “I know this is what you want. But you still don’t understand. . .” His voice quaked. “I’m nothing without the Phantom Thieves. I’m nothing without all of you! That’s why I can’t let you do this!”

            “Akira. . .” squeaked Oracle. She backed away from the group and assumed a supportive position, fully aware that what happened next was most certainly going to be a fight.

            “Persona!” Joker tore his mask from his face, and behind him, Arsene swelled, laughing as though he was amused by friends facing one another. The power emanating from him caused all his allies-turned-adversaries to take a step backwards and shield themselves with their arms.

            “Joker, stop. You’re heavily outnumbered – it would be best to just surrender!” suggested Queen, as a last ditch attempt to make him give up. Joker showed no signs of giving in.

            “He isn’t backing down. . . We’re going to have to fight our way through this!” insisted Mona, but even he didn’t sound truly prepared to stand against Joker. He was their leader, and good friend. And it wasn’t only hard to face him from an emotional standpoint; he was powerful. He could be their strongest opponent yet.

“I-I don’t want to hurt Joker. . .” Noir raised her axe, but there was no determination in her stance.

“It’s unfortunate, but this isn’t the same Joker! Living under Yaldabaoth’s reign has changed him. That’s why it’s all the more important to take him down!” Mona ignored his legs shaking and summoned Zorro.

            Arsene charged forwards, the chains swirling around him as he dragged his claws across Zorro’s chest. Mona grimaced as his Persona was forced to dissipate by the impact. “Just turn around! Please!” begged Joker as his Persona towered above the Phantom Thieves, looking more sinister than it ever had before.

            “Captain Kidd!” Skull tore his mask off and a burst of lightning shot over Joker, staggering him and causing Arsene to disappear. “Not gonna happen. I’m gonna give you a thrashing, but it’s gonna be for your own good!”

            “Please . . . stop. . .” Tears streamed down Joker’s cheeks from beneath his white mask as he pointed his gun toward Skull. His arm quaked, leaving his aim unsteady, and he found himself unable to pull the trigger in good conscience – there was no way of telling where he’d hit, and he refused to administer any blow that could be lethal.

            “Fighting us won’t get you anywhere! Carmen!” called Panther, as Carmen danced a wicked dance above her, conjuring up fire that sprayed toward Joker. She hit him with as little force as possible, only aiming to subdue, but still he stepped backwards from the force. “Even if you take us down here, we’ll just try again!” she shouted.

            “Then I’ll find a way to make you forget. . . I’ll make a new deal with Yaldabaoth, or I’ll pull the memories from you myself! I’ll do whatever I have to!”

            Fox shook his head. “Joker, I have always respected you . . . which is why I cannot allow you to remain in this pitiful state. Goemon!” Shards of ice surrounded Joker.

            “Wait, no! Fox, you’ll hit his weakness!” shouted Oracle, but it was too late. The ice dug into him, and everyone froze.

            Joker cried in pain as the Arsene hovering over him shattered, the sound of his voice seeming to suppress even the howling winds of Mementos. He writhed on the floor, gripping at his mask as though it were attacking him, as though his Persona were rebelling after being subjected to such agony. Fox raised a hand to his mouth, a pang of regret rippling through him. “I-I apologize. I had forgotten.”

            They all watched as Joker painstakingly lifted himself back to his feet, panting. “Fine. . .” His voice shivered. “If you’re not pulling any punches, then I won’t either. . . I’m sorry. I won’t hurt you any more than I need to.” He straightened himself out and took a deep breath. “Odin!”

            A new Persona appeared behind him and waved its spear overhead, lightning gathering around the tip before it arced off toward each of the Phantom Thieves. A collective scream of pain rang through the halls as they were all brought to their knees by the impact.

The first to their feet was Queen. “We have to rush him! His Personas are stronger than ours, so we have no choice but to use our numbers advantage!” She charged forward, engaging him in martial combat, but he was quick. Each punch she let fly only scraped by him as he deftly avoided each blow.

            “Cybele!” His next Persona blasted Queen away from him with a ray of light, singeing her scarf but otherwise leaving her unscathed.

            “He said he’s not pulling any punches, but he’s definitely not trying to kill us! We have to use that to our advantage!” said Oracle from within the Necronomicon, desperately looking for any way to help her friends, but analysis could only do so much against Akira, considering his strengths and affinities changed so frequently. 

            Noir pointed forward as Milady appeared behind her, the Persona’s dress opening to reveal an array of guns. “Fire!” she shouted, and the bullets soared toward Joker.

            “Valkyrie!” His Persona changed yet again, and this one’s resistances caused the bullets to bounce right off him, seeming as though they were only a mild inconvenience.

            “We have him on the defensive! Everyone move, now!” Queen commanded, and Skull leapt into the fray.

            “Sorry, pal!” He raised his club high overhead and swung it down, but a new Persona – Siegfried – had appeared to block the blow. He gritted his teeth as he was thrown backwards by the colossal force, but things were going as planned – if Joker had to switch Personas to defend against attacks, he would never have a chance to go on the offensive. All they had to do was whittle him down.

            The fight continued like this for a long while – the Phantom Thieves kept attacking, and Joker did everything he could to resist their onslaught with his various Personas. It was a stalemate; neither could get the other side to submit. However, Joker kept his eyes focused, keenly watching for any opportunity where he could attack – and after dodging a gust of wind from Zorro, he saw his chance. They had all just moved. He finally had some time.

            “Lucifer!” he called, and the room shook with colossal force as the demonic force raised its arms high. The ceiling was speckled with stars, one of which glowed with particular intensity.

            “S-Shit! He’s gonna attack!” shouted Skull, raising his arms to defend himself.

            “Morning Star!” Just like that, the star fell, exploding over his enemies in a blinding flash of blue light and stardust. They screamed, but even their cries couldn’t ring out over the deafening sound of the attack. When the dust had cleared from the colossal explosion, all of his foes were on the ground, still struggling to get back to their feet. Despite what he’d just done, Joker felt somewhat relieved – he had won, and had used just enough force that no one was permanently injured. “Please . . . just give up.”

            “Dude . . . cut it out. . .” Through sheer force of will, Skull managed to stand, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him. “We ain’t . . . givin’ up. No matter what you do. . .”

            “Skull. . .” Joker once again pulled out his gun and aimed it at a fellow thief, though this time he pointed it at Skull’s knee. “Stand down.”

            Everyone watched in horror, knowing fully well what had happened to Skull’s leg in the past, and how painfully aware of that Joker was. But despite the threat, Skull wouldn’t back away. “Go ahead and shoot – anywhere you want. But know that unless you kill me, I’m never gonna’ stop hounding you – not until you’re saved.”

            Joker grit his teeth. “I-I’ll really do it. Do you not understand that?”

            “I understand.” Somehow, Skull managed to smile one of his wicked grins. “But we’re best friends. You’ve seen me through my worst. That’s why I gotta be here with you now.”

            His hold on the gun wavered as his arm began to shake. He used his other arm to try to hold it firm. “T-Then . . . I’m sorry.”

            “Akira, don’t!” shouted Oracle. She leapt in front of Skull and held her arms out wide, acting as a barrier between the two.

            Joker pulled the trigger.

            Time seemed to stop for him as his eyes went wide, trying to process what he’d just done.

            He was aiming low, but Oracle was short, and closer to him, so the bullet entered her lower side. Blood soaked into the cloth surrounding the wound immediately, and she could only stay standing for a few more seconds before falling to the ground. Skull caught her as she crumpled, but that didn’t stop the fall from looking painful.

            Joker could barely move. “O-Oracle?” He reached a hand out toward her, all of him shaking. “Why . . . why would you . . .?”

            “Akira. . .” Surprisingly, she smiled through the pain. “You would never hurt Ryuji. I know you wouldn’t . . . so I had to stop you before you did something you’d regret.”

            “Futaba. . .” His voice barely squeaked out from beneath his masks, the tears falling even faster now.  

            “Hey, Oracle, it’s gonna be alright! Mona, can you heal her?” asked Skull as Mona rushed over, trying to treat her wounds with Zorro’s magic.

            “Futaba . . .! I-I didn’t –“

            Skull stood straight and walked toward Joker, drawing his arm back. With all the force he could muster, he rammed his fist into Joker’s cheek, sending him flying to the floor. “You think damn hard about what she just did for you,” he said, before leaving Joker on the floor.

Joker rubbed his cheek, but did nothing to resist as they all gathered around Oracle.

            “She’s still bleeding. . . I don’t think the magic is going to be enough,” said Noir as she watched in fear.

            “Hang in there, Oracle. . . We’ve got to get out of the Metaverse! There’s a doctor in Yongen, right?” asked Ann as they hoisted their navigator up. Mona transformed, and they all started to pile into the car, leaving Joker to fend for himself.

            “W-wait . . . don’t go!” insisted Joker, reaching out toward them, but his friends ignored him, too focused on Oracle’s wounds for now. “Don’t leave me . . . please. . . I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to do this. . .” Arsene appeared over his head, but the thief wasn’t wreathed in the blue spectral light of a Persona any longer – instead, a sinister red aura surrounded him. Slowly, Arsene started to fade away, as did Joker’s mask and clothing. By the time it was over, he was no longer Joker, the charismatic phantom thief who could do anything with his Persona and his friends.

            He was just Akira Kurusu, sad and alone, at the bottom of Mementos.

 

 

            Tae emerged from the inspection room, holding her clipboard close to her chest. “She’s going to be alright. Whatever happened, it missed her vital organs – she lost a lot of blood, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.

            A collective sigh of relief filled the room. “Thank goodness. . . I was so worried,” said Ann.

            “Thank you so much, doctor Takemi.” Makoto bowed.

            Tae shook her head dismissively. “Don’t mention it. You guys are friends of Akira’s, right? I owe him a lot, so I’m happy to help.”

            Everyone exchanged worried glances with each other. “Yeah. . . He’s our friend,” said Ryuji, though it sounded as though he was questioning it himself.

            Tae noted the hesitation, but didn’t press any further. “Anyway, I should keep her here for a while to make sure she recovers alright. When she wakes up, I’ll send her home. She lives just down the street, right?”

            “Yes, in the Sakura residence. Thank you again, doctor,” said Makoto as she and the other Phantom Thieves went back to Leblanc. They helped themselves to Akira’s room, since it had served as their hideout once. They set up the table and chairs and gathered around.

            Morgana leapt up onto the table to lead discussion. “Alright, guys. We need to have a serious talk about Akira.”

            “It was like he was a whole different person. . .” said Haru, fearfully. “I didn’t think he would ever get so mad.”

            “You’re right. That ain’t the Akira I know. Even if he was desperate to stop us, he’d never shoot one of us – definitely not Futaba, either.” Ryuji crossed his arms and tried to think for once, but couldn’t come up with any explanation for what had happened in the mind of his best friend.

            “Not only that, but while we were leaving, it looked like his Persona faded away. . . Something terrible has happened to Akira,” said Makoto.

            “Wait, what? His Persona’s gone?” Ann widened her eyes. “But if he’s at the bottom of Mementos without a Persona, aren’t the shadows going to tear him to shreds?”

            “That’s why we have to act fast,” said Morgana. “Now that he can’t oppose us, we should prioritize getting back to the bottom of Mementos as soon as possible; not only to stop Yaldabaoth, but to save him.”

            “Should we go back down now, then? We can pick up Akira, and then go to face Yaldabaoth.”

            Morgana shook his head at Yusuke’s comment. “You’re all way too tired to go today. Even if we managed to make it back to the bottom, there’s no telling what’s past that door. We’d be totally drained by the time we got to Yaldabaoth, and at that point he’d make short work of us. Plus, if Akira can’t fight, he won’t be any use to us beyond that door.”

            “True. . . I haven’t felt so exhausted since I awakened to my Persona,” said Haru with dejection.

            “Then what’re we supposed to do? I don’t wanna leave Akira down there.” Ryuji looked around to see if his conspirators had any ideas.

            “We just have to trust him to stay alive,” said Morgana. “He’s crafty. Even without a Persona, he’ll probably buy us a good bit of time to rest.”

            “Right. But for a whole day . . .” Ann frowned. “I don’t think I could do that _with_ a Persona, let alone without one.”

            “What if we got Akira his Persona back?”

            Everyone looked at the new arrival – Futaba had just come upstairs, somewhat pale but for the most part functional. “Futaba-chan! You’re alright!” Haru rushed over to her side and helped her stand, walking her to the couch. “Shouldn’t you be with Takemi-san?”

            “She said if I was feeling up to it, I could go. So here I am.” She laughed. “I should give you guys more credit. . . Being on the front lines sucks.”

            “Futaba . . . are you _sure_ you’re okay?” asked Makoto. “Not just physically. What happened with Akira . . . it must have really hurt you.”

            “Yeah. If you don’t wanna do this anymore, I totally understand,” said Ann, but Futaba shook her head.

            “That’s exactly why I have to do this. I could never forgive myself if I abandoned him now. He needs my help. Not only that, but . . . I want my boyfriend back.”

            “Glad to hear it, Oracle,” said Morgana. “But what was that you mentioned when you came in? Getting his Persona back?”

            She nodded. “Haven’t you guys got it figured out? I think it’s pretty obvious what’s happened to Akira.”

            “Well duh, you’re a genius, so of course you’d get it. But I’m gonna need you to spell it out for me,” said Ryuji.

            “Ryuji, how unexpectedly humble. I’m impressed.” Morgana let out a short laugh as Ryuji’s glared, but they both quieted down to listen to Futaba afterwards.

            “Well, you guys said it yourselves. Akira’s Persona disappeared, as did his Joker outfit. I think it’s safe to say he probably can’t summon a Persona anymore.”

            “Well, yeah, but how would we be able to get it back? We barely understand how we get ours in the first place,” said Ann.

            “Remember? A Persona comes from confronting your shadow. I know that better than anyone – I met my shadow directly,” said Futaba. “And we’ve seen time and time again that Akira can turn the shadows we fight into Personas for him to use. Thanks to that, we know that Personas and shadows are the same thing.”

            “Oh, I get it. . .” Morgana nodded. “You’re saying his Persona might have reverted to its state as his shadow!”

            “Precisely. And if he has a shadow, with a particularly distorted desire . . .”

            Ryuji’s jaw dropped. “No way . . . are you sayin’ Akira has a palace!?”

            “It’s just a theory. I haven’t checked the Meta-Nav yet,” said Futaba. “But we should do that now that everyone’s here.”

            Yusuke pulled out his phone and opened the application. He spoke clearly to it. “Akira Kurusu.”

            “Candidate found,” said the metallic voice from within the phone.

            “Holy shit. . . Akira actually has a palace!” Ryuji blinked a few times as if trying to awaken from a dream. “I don’t believe it, man. . .”

            “I wouldn’t believe it either if it weren’t for what we just saw . . .” said Haru weakly. “It’s so strange to think Akira could have a palace.”

            “Don’t lose hope yet. Remember, it’s not only evil people that have palaces. All it takes is a strong desire. We saw that firsthand with Futaba.” Morgana licked his paw, as he often did when thinking. “Now all we have to do is identify what he thinks of as his palace, and what he mistakes it for. Anyone got any ideas?”

            “Well, I guess the first thing to do is start listin’ off locations like we always do.” Ryuji tapped his chin in thought. “This room?”

            “No candidates found.”

            “Try bigger, Ryuji,” said Ann.

            “Uh, Leblanc.”

            “No candidates found.”

            “Yongen-Jaya?” he asked.

            “No candidates found.”

            “So it’s nothing close to his residence. . .” Makoto was the next to try. “Shujin Academy.”

            “No candidates found.”

            “Central Street?” asked Yusuke.

            “No candidates found.”

            “Uh. . . What about an arcade?” suggested Haru.

            “No candidates found.”

            “Do you have any clues, Futaba? You two are dating, so you might have some unique insight,” said Makoto.

            “I can’t really think of anywhere that hasn’t already been said. . .” She frowned, looking down into her lap.

            Morgana sighed. “It’s useless. . . There are just too many places to think of. Trust me, I’m in that guy’s bag every day, and there isn’t a place in Tokyo he hasn’t been.”

            “Candidate found,” said the metallic voice within the phone.

            “Huh?” Morgana looked shocked. “Did I say something right?”

            “Tokyo. . .” Futaba’s face lit up in revelation. “That must be it! It makes perfect sense!”

            “Uh, d-does it?” asked Ryuji, looking as lost as always.

            “Think about it. Even if he’s lived here a while, Akira’s still pretty new to Tokyo, right? And so much stuff has happened since he moved here – it must be like a whole new world to him. And like Mona said, Akira gets around a lot, so it makes sense that he’d think of Tokyo as one unified place.”

            “When you put it that way, I think you’re right, Futaba-chan. But still, that’s a really big area. . . Can we handle a palace of that size?” asked Haru.

            “We don’t have a choice,” said Morgana. “We have to rescue Akira. He’s our friend. Not only that, but it’s imperative that we have our leader for the fight against Yaldabaoth.”

            “Right. Now, all we need to figure out is what he thinks of his Palace as. . .” Makoto tapped her chin. “Ideas?”

            “. . . That’s a tough one,” said Ann. “He doesn’t talk a ton, and we didn’t even know he was distorted until recently. . . I wonder what it could be.”

            “We can’t just sit here and wonder, Lady Ann. Let’s think of characteristics that might apply to Akira’s perception of Tokyo,” said Morgana. “For one, we know that he likes this city.”

            “Right, so he definitely doesn’t think of it as somewhere bad. Anything else?” asked Makoto.

“Um, he’s also been saying a lot about protecting us recently. Could that have something to do with it?” asked Haru.

            “Good inference, Haru. Somewhere you like, that you want to protect. . . A home, perhaps?” asked Yusuke.

            “No candidates found.”

            “Nah, a house is too simple. What about a mansion?” asked Ryuji.

            “No candidates found.”

            “That’s just a bigger house, Ryuji . . .” Ann sighed.

            “Maybe a country?” suggested Makoto. “Some form of territory?”

            “No candidates found.”

            Haru sighed. “This is a hard one. . .”

            Futaba stared holes into the phone, desperately trying to come up with something. “What could he possibly think of Tokyo as . . .?” The group sat in silence for a long while, wondering what it could be, before something clicked in Futaba. She widened her eyes and grabbed the phone. “Akira Kurusu. Tokyo. Paradise.”

            “Candidate found. Searching for route to destination.”

            “Nice going, Futaba!” cheered Ryuji. “Paradise, huh?”

            “That makes sense. . . He wants to protect his current life in Tokyo so bad that he was willing to hurt the person he cares most about. I can only imagine doing that if you thought of the world as perfect,” said Makoto.

            “I’m somewhat flattered that he thinks life with us is a paradise . . . but somewhat concerned as well. Considering how things have really been from his perspective, that seems like escapism at its peak.” Yusuke shook his head slightly.

            “It’s not surprising, given what he’s been through. But that doesn’t matter. We’ve nailed down what the distortion is – now all that’s left is to steal Akira’s treasure!” said Morgana with newfound determination.

            “Should we go in right now? I know we’re all tired, but I think we should at least poke around a little.” Everyone nodded at Makoto’s suggestion. Yusuke took his phone back and activated the Nav.

 

 

            Akira leaned against the wall of the massive subway tunnel he traversed, trying desperately to support himself. Without the physical strength granted to him by his Metaverse transformation, simply avoiding collapsing from exhaustion as he walked was an ordeal in and of itself. Despite how tired he was, he kept his eyes peeled for shadows on the horizon. If any of them found him in this state, he was done for. _I have to get out of here. . . I can’t afford to die now. . ._

            “Can you not?” asked a voice from over his shoulder.

            Akira spun around and pointed his model gun at the presence – without his transformation it probably wouldn’t shoot anything, but it could maybe intimidate a shadow and cause it to run away. That’s what he thought, anyway, but the shadow he pointed it at didn’t seem too intimidated at all.

            Additionally, the shadow he pointed it at was him.

            A picture perfect copy, right down to every lick of hair. It looked down on him with the piercing yellow eyes he’d come to associate with the demons of this underworld. Below those evil eyes sat a sneer like no other, and Akira couldn’t help but shake. He’d never been so terrified, not even when he confronted the false Igor.

            “It’s been a while, Akira Kurusu. I was beginning to think you’d gotten away from me forever.” The shadow took a step toward him, and Akira pulled the trigger on his gun, but as he’d suspected, it did nothing. “So aggressive. Where was all this energy when you were facing Yaldabaoth?”

            Akira grimaced. He tried to hold a scowl on his face, to not look intimidated, but it was harder and harder to do so with every passing moment. He lowered the gun, aware that it wouldn’t do anything for him. “W-What do you want?” he asked, ignoring how his voice cracked in terror.

            “What I want?” The shadow laughed. “It’s really quite simple.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long chapter (if that's something I should apologize for). I hope you liked it, despite the upsetting parts! I always have a tough time writing combat, so I tried to keep it minimal. I considered not including it at all, but it seemed somewhat important for establishing the tone. Let me know if you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

 

            The sickness brought by the sensation of entering the Metaverse faded quickly for the teenagers as their senses started to return to them, since they were all quite used to it by now. The world around them was drenched in a thick fog, however, and they could see nothing even as their vision returned, save the ground and a small pathway paved in stone below them.

            Skull’s first instinct, since he couldn't see anything around him, was to check his clothes – sure enough, he wore the roguish pirate armor of a Metaverse rebel. “Whoa, we’re in our costumes. . . Does this mean Akira thinks of us as a threat?”

            “I’d be surprised if he didn’t—if he thinks the world is perfect, then we’re trying to take his paradise from him,” said Mona. He looked toward the path underfoot. “Nevertheless, we won’t be able to find out more unless we get a move on. Come on, everyone!” He started to scamper forwards.

            The thieves began to walk down the path provided for them. Fox observed the wisps of fog with a slight fascination, though seemed confused. “I must say, this is not what I had expected from a description like ‘paradise’. Are we certain this is the right place?”

            “How could it not be? We entered all the info right. And besides, we’ve seen weirder cognitions before. . . Not that I’m not creeped out by this,” said Panther as she inched forward.

            “Can you sense anything through the fog, Oracle?” asked Noir.

            Oracle didn’t seem to notice the question – she let her eyes drift to the floor, trapped in the confines of her own mind. Her resolve was strong, but still, the sensation of being in her boyfriend’s palace didn’t sit right with her. So many things could go wrong; they could fail to save Akira in time since his palace was so large. The distorted cognitions of his pain and suffering could be too horrible to bear – not only that, but what if she saw something she didn’t want to see while she was in here? What if she learned one of his deepest and darkest secrets? And, god forbid, he died in the real world, there’s no way they could get out of a palace this size fast enough before it collapsed.

            She was torn from her thoughts by the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Oracle? You in there?” asked Skull.

            Oracle flinched, before taking a moment to gather herself. “O-Oh, yeah. Sorry, I’m a little out of it. . . I'll be fine, though." She said this, but didn't even manage to convince herself with the statement, let alone anyone else.

            Queen raised a hand from up ahead, interrupting the conversation. “Guys, the fog is getting thinner. . . I think we’re getting close.”

            “Queen is right,” said Mona, charging on ahead. “I think I can see an outline!”

            “Hey, wait up!” Skull dashed after him, as did his allies, until they burst forth from within the fog. The thick sheet of grey that refused them their vision was peeled away in an instant, and ahead of them was a sight unlike anything they’d ever seen, both in reality and in the Metaverse.

            Tokyo, in its entirety as Akira knew it, sat upon an island in a sea of golden clouds. Waterfalls fell from the sides of this island and cascaded into the abyss, creating a peaceful echo of falling water that rang throughout the palace’s interior. Rainbows formed from the mist, painting the canvas of the clouds below in beautiful and vibrant colors. The buildings of Tokyo, even those that seemed seedy and unappealing in reality, looked as though they were carved from marble, with gilded jewels glittering here and there across their surfaces. The roads, paved in gold, reflected the divine light of the shimmering sun in the sky, making the whole world look ethereal, as though it might disappear at any moment. The group could not make out any specific locations from so far away, but one thing was certain; this truly was an image of paradise.

            “My word . . . I cannot believe it,” said Fox. “Such artistry, to be born from the heart of Akira. . .”

            “I don’t want to be enjoying it, but I have to agree. . . It’s beautiful,” said Panther, unable to tear her eyes from the sculpted landscape.

            Noir shook her head. “It’s beautiful, but also somewhat sad . . . to think this is how Akira sees Tokyo.”

            Mona nodded. “True. To see it like this means he can’t acknowledge that Yaldabaoth has turned Tokyo into a dreadful place, and fused it with Mementos. It might be pretty, but we still have to put a stop to this.”

            Despite what Mona said, he too found himself captivated by the world Akira had created within his head. The only one who was able to avert their eyes was Oracle – she surveyed the cityscape, but turned her gaze back to her toes after a quick look.

            Queen caught onto her behavior. "Are you sure you're alright, Oracle? You seem like you’re having a hard time keeping focused,” she said, offering a comforting smile. “If this is too hard for you . . .”

            Oracle shook her head. “I'm sorry. . . I want to keep going. I need to help Akira no matter what. It’s just . . . the distortion is so strong. I can’t believe I let this happen. . . I didn’t even notice, and I was with him so often. . .”

            “Hey. . . it’s not your fault. None of us caught on. And it’s not like he was bad at keepin’ secrets,” said Skull.  He laughed quietly, trying to boost morale, but his words seemed to bring about the opposite effect – Oracle’s shoulders sunk lower.

            Panther elbowed Skull in the gut before offering Oracle a warm smile. “And besides, a distorted heart doesn’t make you evil. After all, you had a palace, and you’re still the most fun girl we know. That’s why I know at the bottom of all these distortions, deep in his heart, Akira is still the same guy you love. So cheer up, okay?”

            Fox leaned toward Skull. “I don’t mean to insult, but I think her pep talk was better than yours.”

            “W-Well duh. She’s a girl, of course she knows girl talk better than I do.” Ryuji rubbed the back of his head to mask his embarrassment, but the exchange brought a smile, albeit a weak one, to Oracle’s face nonetheless.

            “Thanks, you guys. . . I think I feel better now." Oracle inhaled sharply, furrowing her brow. "Alright! Time for my game face. Let’s get onto the matter at hand.” She walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down – as she suspected, there were no structures or shapes below. Just endless, puffy clouds that obscured the world beneath, if there was anything down there. “How are we gonna’ get over there?”

            “Well, we know Mona turning into a plane is out of the question,” said Skull with a sigh. “So what _are_ we gonna do?”

            “I believe I can help with that,” said an all too familiar voice.

            From above them, a sphere of light slowly descended – it was blinding, forcing them to cover their eyes or turn away until it faded. As the light disappeared, the shape of the boy within became clearer – Akira Kurusu hovered overhead, wreathed in white robes as though he were some kind of prophet or disciple. As with any shadow, the only difference between this Akira and the real one was the set of disturbingly yellow eyes that trained themselves on the group below.

            The Phantom Thieves stepped back, assuming fighting stances. “It’s his shadow!” shouted Panther.

            “Welcome, Phantom Thieves . . . to my perfect world.” The shadow waved his arms to either side, as though conducting some heavenly orchestra – he closed his eyes and shuddered, as though a wave of euphoria pulsed through him. To those below, he looked like some kind of freak having a lucid daydream. Regardless, after his “song” was finished, he smiled softly and spoke to his friends. “Apologies for the fog, but I thought it best that you see everything at once. I hope everything is to your liking.”

            Noir shook her head. “It may be beautiful, but this isn’t how things really are. . . Why do you see everything like this, Akira-kun?”

            The shadow raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand what you mean. This is the way the world is, and the way it shall remain. A kingdom of heaven, where all can be happy,” he stated plainly. The flowery language coming from the mouth of Akira, one who never spoke this frequently or fluidly, was quite the shock to the Phantom Thieves, but still they continued their questioning unfazed.

            “So, are you some kind of god or savior in this world? Your appearance certainly suggests such,” commented Fox.

            “Me? A god?” The shadow laughed. “You humble me with your comments. No, I am nothing – not one of power, nor one of influence.” This was a surprise – the world around them led the Phantom Thieves to assume that this world was created from the mind of someone unbelievably arrogant, but his comments didn’t seem to suggest anything like that. “I am simply one who was blessed by this paradise, and allowed to taste its bounties. I am a believer – I worship this world.”

            “Well, sorry to break it to you, but we’ve come to take your treasure _and_ your world, shadow!” said Mona assertively, shrugging off Shadow Akira’s comments.

            Surprisingly, Shadow Akira didn't look mad; he looked wounded. “Such hostility. . . Why would you taint a place as sanguine as this with negative emotions? Please, I implore you.” Unlike any shadow they’d faced before, he spoke to them kindly and respectfully, making a genuine request.  

            “Sorry, but your world ain’t perfect. We’re gonna snatch it right out from underneath you and make you see the truth, Akira,” said Skull.

            “Oh. . . So you’ve come to take from me once again. You take this world I’ve arduously protected for granted.” Akira’s shadow scowled, the anger looking out of place on the boy in angelic clothing. “You are my dear friends. . . Why must you turn on me? First in the outside world, and now in my own heart. . .”

            “ _You’re_ not our friend,” insisted Panther. “Your distortion is hurting someone we care about. That’s why we’re gonna take you down!”

            Shadow Akira laughed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Very well . . . I see now that you lack vision. Unsurprising. It was my intention to enlighten you in the first place, but now I see you are in more desperate need of my help than I’d realized.” He lifted his arm forward, and from the clouds below a beautiful golden bridge sprouted, twisting and winding as it formed a path toward the city. “Perhaps if you are allowed to see what makes this place so wonderful, you will decide not to change things. I offer you this chance. However . . . know that this world is mine to protect. If you attempt to displace anything in my perfect world, I will stop you, no matter who you are.” His gaze fell to Oracle, lips drawn into a thin and unreadable line. “Even you.”

             She froze, trying to keep herself calm, but the shadow’s sole focus upon her made a chill run down her spine. Their eyes locked, and for the umpteenth time that day, Oracle felt truly helpless.

            The shadow slowly faded away, leaving all the Phantom Thieves behind with only the bridge to Tokyo in front of them. It looked like a long way, so Mona transformed and let everyone get comfortable inside the car. No one spoke until they were all settled and Queen had started driving down the smooth, golden road.

            “So that was his shadow, huh? He . . . wasn’t what I expected,” said Panther.

            Skull nodded. “Yeah, that was pretty freakin’ weird . . . I guess that’s what you can expect from a distortion, though. ‘Specially one with all of Tokyo as his palace.”

            Noir furrowed her brow, deep in thought. “Wasn’t some of what he said especially odd, though? Like ‘I am nothing,’ and ‘I worship this world’?”

            Queen nodded. “Yeah, that’s an awfully low opinion of oneself for a palace ruler. Most of the ones we run into are narcissistic and self-centered. . .”

            “Wasn’t my shadow the same way?” asked Oracle. “She only wanted to stay inside her tomb and die. . . I’d wager Akira’s circumstances are something similar. Still, if his self-esteem really is that low, I’m kind of worried. . .”

            “Yes, I am as well. I wouldn’t have expected our charismatic leader to view himself as a humble disciple. I was imagining something more arrogant, personally,” said Fox.

            Oracle slapped his arm. “Don’t talk about Akira like that!”

            Fox rubbed the spot where she had hit him, but kept talking. “Don’t misunderstand – I’m not trying to disparage the real Akira at all, but the way he’s behaved recently would have led me to believe his shadow would have a high image of itself, what with how hard he’s tried to heighten the popularity of the Phantom Thieves.”

            Panther leaned back in her seat, making herself comfortable. “Maybe he has an ulterior motive for doing that? I thought he was just running away with the popularity too, but he seems to be more focused with protecting us than his own fame. . .”

            Queen nodded. “I think that was his motive for taking down Fukunaga and Natsukawa as well. It makes sense in hindsight that he’d want to stand up to anyone with the power to hurt us. He probably did it because he cares about us.”

            Oracle wrapped her arms around her knees and grimaced. “I even accused him of doing it out of arrogance and selfishness. . .”

            “It matters not now. What does matter is that we keep going, and ensure that all of this is put behind us, for good,” said Fox.

            “. . . Alright. I’m sorry for snapping at you, Fox.”

            He offered her a kindhearted smile. “Tensions are high in all of us. I do not blame you in the slightest.”

            Queen widened her eyes. “Are Fox and Oracle actually getting along . . .?”

            Panther set a hand on Queen’s shoulder. “Don’t say anything. You might jinx it.”

            Skull leaned backwards in the front seat. “Y’know, Inari, I really don’t wanna admit it, but what you just said was pretty damn cool.” He offered him a thumbs up.

            “Oh dear. If I’ve impressed Skull, I must’ve acted without any grace or tact. . . My apologies.”

             “You guys can’t even afford to be serious in Akira’s palace, of all places?” sighed Panther. “But I guess it wouldn’t be a mission with the Phantom Thieves if we weren’t messing around.”

            “I suppose antics are our modus operandi!” said Noir, with a small bob of her head, pleased with the morale boost.

            “You’re right, Noir. But we’ll have plenty of time for messin’ around when Akira’s back. Right now, it’s time to save him!” said Skull with a wide grin.

            Nods of confirmation were exchanged as everyone turned their focus to the road ahead, and the constantly approaching divine Tokyo they’d soon be infiltrating.

 

            Akira collapsed onto the rough concrete, coughing and wheezing. He’d stopped counting how many floors he’d made it through a while back, since there was really no point in doing so – as long as he was in Mementos, no matter how high he got, he wasn’t safe. On the previous floor, he’d almost been caught by a shadow, but thanks to his frequent training with Ryuji he was able to just barely outrun it. However, as a result, his lungs were burning, and his heart threatened to burst at any moment. It didn't matter, though; he didn't care. At that moment, he was just thankful to be alive. He managed to look up to the room around him, and felt immeasurable relief when he saw the waiting room just next to the rails – he’d reached a safe floor.

            Unfortunately, even in the place of rest, all was not well – he wasn’t alone. His shadow again formed from the black and red wisps of smoke that clouded Akira’s mind. It stood in front of him, raising a foot and pressing it firmly down on the boy’s head. “You look so pathetic on the floor like this. It’s fitting, for you.”

            Akira tried to lift his head, but couldn’t do so. He wasn’t sure if his shadow was a real entity or just a hallucination, but the fact remained that he couldn’t force his body to stand against it. “L-Leave me alone. . .” He tried to sound commanding, but the whimper in his voice betrayed his intentions.

            “ _Believe_ me, I would if I could, you disgusting whelp. Unfortunately, I’m stuck with you.” He twisted the ball of his foot over his mirror image. “So we’d best get used to each other’s company, yeah?” Shadow Akira offered one more push onto the real thing’s skull before walking over to the waiting room. He took a seat and crossed his legs, watching the real Akira struggle to his feet. He smirked at the pitiful image.

            “Y-You never told me what you wanted. . .” spat Akira, taking a few steps forward himself, but not before collapsing back to his knees. The abuse of both the shadows in Mementos and the shadow in his head left him drained.

            “Well, I’m you, so you should understand what I want better than anyone.” The shadow casually picked at his own fingernail, almost looking bored. However, his bored apathy quickly turned to a stare of utter loathing that bored into Akira’s eyes. The intensity of the emotion on his face, the hatred in those golden eyes froze Akira in his place, making it difficult to even breathe despite his exhaustion. As the words creaked out from within the shadow, the real Akira felt like his blood was going to freeze. “I want you to die.”

 

 

            After what felt like eons of driving, they’d finally arrived within the cognitive Tokyo. It was far from the first time they’d seen a false Tokyo within someone’s head, but this was by far the most distorted the buildings had ever been – their shapes and placements were perfect matches, but the furnishings and architecture were far more lavish and ornate. Only one building they could see remained the same as its real world counterpart. The road had dumped them in front of Shujin Academy, which looked exactly the same as its real world counterpart. After everyone had exited the vehicle, Mona transformed back into cat form and took a look around.

            “This is the school. . . Why’d the road bring us here?” asked Panther, though no one had an answer for her. 

            The bright light from the sky flashed once again, before disappearing – in its place, the shadow of Akira manifested. “You must see the world as it is . . . as such, I want to take you to all the wonderful places I love, so that you may come to love them as well.”

            “His shadow again. . . Why don’t you just cut the shit and show us where your treasure is?” asked Skull aggressively.

            “If you follow the paths laid out for you, you will arrive at the treasure you seek. But by the time you do, you will no longer want it. When that time comes, I will welcome you as a new disciple, and you will join me in worshiping this world.” The shadow offered a kindhearted smile before fading away.

            Noir frowned. “He was acting almost eerily nice. . .”

            “I agree. . . I never thought someone who looked so much like Akira could creep me out so much. . .” Queen shuddered, before realizing what she’d said. “O-Oh, I don’t mean that as an insult to Akira. . ." 

            “No, you’re right. . . His shadow’s super weird. He doesn’t seem anything like Akira.” Oracle furrowed her brow. “Was my shadow like me at all?” 

            “Not really . . . I mean, she was weird, but not nearly as quirky as you. Talked kinda fancy too,” said Skull. 

            “Then I guess Shadow Akira’s talking funny isn’t _too_ off of the norm. . . But that doesn’t explain why it’s being so nice to us,” she said. “Aren’t we intruders?”

            “Well, he said we’re his ‘dear friends,’ yeah? And we  _are_ Akira’s friends in the real world too. Maybe he’s being nice ‘cause he likes us,” said Panther.

            “It’s possible, but I wouldn’t be so sure yet. We can’t take anything Akira’s shadow says at face value. He could simply be acting nice to lure us deeper, or get us to accept his ‘perfect world.’ We should be cautious,” said Mona with his arms crossed.

            Oracle did her best not to look pained. “I know you’re right, but . . . not trusting Akira makes me feel awful.” She frowned, but shook her head as though to shake the bad thoughts from it. “Not right now, Futaba . . . Game face!” Oracle set her hands on her goggles with fresh determination and ran a cursory examination of the school. “There’s shadows in there. . . Should we head back for the day or go inside?”

            “I ain’t down for givin’ up so soon. The shadows here are prolly pretty tough, but we can’t afford to head back just yet,” said Skull, brandishing his club.

            “For once, I agree with Skull,” said Queen. “We shouldn’t be rash, but we should at least try to make some progress. This infiltration is imperative, after all; every minute of time saved is vital.”

            Skull groaned. “I appreciate the backup, but you coulda’ left out the ‘for once’ part. . .”

            “Alright. I’ll act as field leader for this mission,” said Mona, before looking around at everyone. “Are we ready?”

            They nodded.

            Mona set his sights upon the building. “Then let’s begin the infiltration!”

 

 

            The previously frozen Akira started to quake as the words left his shadow’s mouth. His arms shook so intensely that he couldn’t even use them to support himself anymore – he fell forward, face colliding with the cold subway floor beneath him. The shadow stood and started to walk over, but Akira couldn’t see his face – just the body that lurched over him. He tried to steady his shaking for long enough to speak, but the words came out weak and quivering. “Y-Yeah? And why is it that you want me to die?” he asked, mustering all of the rebellion left inside of him to try and sound strong for just a moment.

            His shadow stared at him for a moment, before a wild and insane glee rose to his face. He let out an onslaught of cacophonous laughter, filling the subway’s tunnels up with the echoing of a madman. “You’re still trying to sound tough? You’re the most pitiful thing I’ve ever seen!” He squatted down next to Akira, still chuckling. “C'mon, get up.”

            “I-I can’t. . .”

            “Get up!” screamed the shadow, its jovial laughter gone in an instant, replaced with fury. Akira shook as though the roar had hit him physically, before scrambling to his feet. Even his exhaustion didn’t want to stand in the way of the shadow’s whims. And just like that, the shadow smiled contentedly once again. “Much better.” He paced over to the edge of the platform, toeing the yellow line. “As for _why_ I want you to die? That should be obvious. Though, I know you’re not the best at thinking things through all the way, so I guess I could explain. We’ve got all the time in the world down here, after all.” He pointed a slender finger toward the space between Akira’s eyes. “It’s simple. You’re utterly worthless.”

            “I-I’m inclined to disagree. . .” Akira had practiced giving confrontational, cocky comments like this for when he was detained by the police – it was supposed to frustrate the interrogator, flustering them so they might lose the upper hand in the conversation. But it didn’t seem like that would work on a shadow who knew the workings of his mind perhaps better than he did.

            “You really think that?” The shadow pretended to look perplexed, before a teasing smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Wait, of course you don’t. I _exist,_ after all, so that can’t be true!” He laughed, before preparing his array of invectives. “You might have been some high and mighty Phantom Thief once upon a time, but how far you’ve fallen.” He shook his head of fluffy hair in disappointment. “Just some thug who beats up people who bad mouth him.”

            “That’s not the case!” Akira tightened his hands into fists at his sides. “I-I needed to protect the name of the Phantom Thieves. . .”

            “Wow, you’re still goin’ on about that shit? You’re like a broken record. Just let me do the talking – I’m the one who understands us, after all,” he jeered. “Fact of the matter is, you’re nothing but a coward.”

            “I’m not!” shouted Akira, but the shadow cared little. He kept speaking, with his condescending eyes digging into Akira all the while.

            “You don’t care about protecting everyone else. Or at least it didn’t _look_ like it when you were beating the shit out of them. And poor Futaba. . . I wonder if she’s alright. Not that you care – I mean, you shot her, so of course you don’t.”

            The shadow struck a nerve. Akira’s anger flared up and took control of his actions – he pushed past the fiery pain in his muscles and rushed toward his doppelganger, grabbing him by the collar. He lifted the shadow to his toes, gritting his teeth. “Shut up!”

            Shadow Akira didn’t look like he wanted to shut up at all, though – in fact, he looked ecstatic that he’d pissed Akira off. “Protecting everyone is just a convenient excuse. You’re afraid.”

            “Be quiet!” He thrashed the shadow around, but it just kept talking.

            “You’re afraid of losing your new place in the world, aren’t you? Afraid of the Phantom Thieves getting arrested, or getting killed, or disappearing. Or even worse, moving on. . .”

            Akira froze up once again. The firmly set scowl on his face faded, replaced by a shocked expression as he came to realize something even he hadn’t known until just then.

            “That’s right!” Shadow Akira laughed emphatically in the boy’s face. “Even if they _don’t_ disappear and _don’t_ get killed by Yaldabaoth, they won’t need you anymore! Without Joker, and without _me,_ you’re nothing!”

            Akira let go and took a step backward, but the shadow advanced at the same pace. “S-Stop it. . .” he begged. “Stop!”

            “Just look at you now. . . No Persona, no friends, no power. . . You’re worthless trash!” The shadow spat to the side as he continued advancing. “You can't stand not having those things. And since if you _didn’t_ accept Yaldabaoth’s deal, all those things would be gone, you took him up on his offer. Not out of any desire to protect the Phantom Thieves or the world, but out of a desire to protect yourself, you piece of shit!”

            Akira fell back onto the floor, unable to do anything but stare up at the shadow overhead. He tried to raise his voice in pointless protest, but the only sounds that came out were fearful cries and moans.

            “Not that it matters. You can’t even stand up against me! What makes you think you could _ever_ stand up to Yaldabaoth, or anyone else?" He hovered over Akira, grinning like a sinister demon. "That’s why it’s for the best that you die here.”

            “But . . . my friends –“

            “Your _friends?_ ” Yet another bout of mad laughter bubbled up within the shadow. “You don’t have any, you idiot! Any friends who were willing to stick with the deranged imbecile you became turned their back on you tonight! Even sweet little Futaba couldn’t care less about you now, if she’s even alive! So why don’t you just do them all a favor and die, so they don’t have to worry about taking you out themselves?”

            “I . . .! I. . .” Akira’s muscles loosened as the will to fight back he harbored disappeared. There was no resistance left within him. He pulled himself to his feet, but there was no strength in his stance – it looked as though he dangled by a string, his head sagging, arms hanging loosely at his sides. He dragged himself to the edge of the platform, and the shadow set his arm around Akira’s shoulders.

            “That’s right. . . You’re nothing. So go ahead . . . and die.”

            Akira inhaled deeply, and waited for the next train to cross the tracks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves delve deeper into the palace of their leader, determined to figure out what's going on.

             The inside of the school was pretty much exactly as it was in the real world – if they weren’t wearing their costumes, the Phantom Thieves would’ve found it hard to tell whether or not they were in the Metaverse. That, and the fact that all the people that walked past were featureless. Some were nothing but grey silhouettes. Others, that were closer, looked more like people, but lacked distinct hairstyles or personalities – they simply paced around next to their fellow, similarly featureless, classmates.

            “So he sees everyone like this, huh. . .” Skull observed the bland students as they walked in through the front doors and headed to class. It looked like school had just started. 

            “I can’t really blame him. . . It’d be impossible to remember every face you see in Tokyo,” said Mona. “What’s more concerning is the fact that this place doesn’t even seem distorted at all.”

            “That’s true. . . Normally the only places that look normal like this are safe rooms. Could this whole place be one?” asked Noir.

            Oracle shook her head. “No, I’m getting readings from shadows in here, and the distortion level seems normal.”

            “Then why are things not different inside the school?” asked Panther. “Every other building we’ve seen so far has been altered somehow.”

            “Hmm. . .” Fox stroked his chin. “Could it be that, while his overall perception of the world is distorted, his perception of its components is not?”

            “Uh, you’re kinda’ goin’ over my head here, Fox,” said Skull.

            Queen was the first to understand. “Oh, I get it. . . To put it more simply, Akira doesn’t have a distorted perception of the people in his real life or places he frequents, like the school. But even if he doesn’t have a corrupted view of those things individually, when he puts them all together, his heart sees the world as this paradise.” She paused for a moment. “I think.”

            Skull groaned. “You’re soundin’ like Mona. . .”

            “I’m not sure I get the mechanics of it all, but I guess it makes sense. . .” Panther took a look around – most of the students had made it to class, leaving the Phantom Thieves alone in the hallway. “So what do we have to do here?”

            A flash of light obscured their vision once again, and, unsurprisingly, Shadow Akira stood before them. “I will reveal to you the next location after you’ve experienced the joy of this one.”

            “So you just want us to walk around the school?” asked Noir, cautiously.

            “Not exactly. You must see things through my eyes to understand.” The shadow faded away without elaborating any further, leaving them alone in the empty hallways.

            “Remind me to belt Akira again for havin’ such an annoying shadow. . .” Skull rubbed the side of his head. “So what’s the plan?”

            Oracle thought for a moment. “Well, if he wants us to see things through Akira’s eyes, why don’t we follow Akira’s footsteps? If we do everything he’d do, maybe his shadow will let us move onwards.”

            “Not a bad idea, Oracle,” said Queen. “I guess our first stop is Akira’s homeroom.”

            “I can lead us there,” said Panther with a hand raised. “I’m in his class.”

            “Then you take point, Panther,” said Mona. “How do the shadow readings look, Oracle?”

            “There are only a few of them, but they seem strong. We’ll have to be careful moving forward.”

            “Alright, be cautious everyone! Let’s go!” commanded their cat companion.

 

           

            Even if the school wasn’t distorted, it took the Phantom Thieves a long time to reach the second floor – the shadows had made sure of that. Skull rested his hands on his knees, panting. “Phew. . . Damn, that was a close one. . .” The past group of shadows had almost wiped them out.

            “Are we sure we can do this today? We won’t be much help to Akira if we wind up dying in here,” said the ever-calm Fox.

            “Let’s at least try to make it through the school,” said Panther, letting go of her wound as it knitted back together thanks to Mona’s healing magic. “There’s no way we can do this in one day, but I’d feel bad without making at least a little progress.”

            Oracle nodded. “Agreed. We should tear through this palace as fast as we can!” She turned her attention toward Queen, who was looking into the classroom. “Why is his classroom on the second floor, anyway? Isn’t he a third year now?”

Panther shook her head. “I checked our classroom for this year, but he wasn’t in there. This was our room last year, so this is my next bet. . .”

“He always did say he liked the second year classrooms more than the third year ones. . . Maybe in his perfect world, he’s a second year again?” asked Skull.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Oracle looked back to Queen. “Is anything weird going on in there?”

            “Uh. . . No. Not at all. . .” She beckoned everyone else over, and the Phantom Thieves hunkered down around the crack in the door to look inside.

            The class looked just like it always had. Kawakami stood at the front of the room, writing on the blackboard as she lectured. Most students looked just like they had in the hall, but three stood out amongst the crowd – a boy with blue hair near the center of the classroom, and two kids by the windows. The group focused their attention on those two. Akira Kurusu sat in his seat, behind a perfect rendition of Ann Takamaki, and stared out the window with a small, satisfied smile on his face. The golden rays of the sun wreathed him in an otherworldly light that seemed to wrap around him, warming and comforting the boy as he basked in the heaven outside.

            “Is that Akira’s shadow?” asked Skull in a whisper.

            “Forget about that! Why am I in there?” asked Panther.

            “It’s Akira’s shadow alright, but he’s wearing his uniform. . . As for Panther’s question, it looks like that’s his cognition of you,” said Oracle.

            Panther shuddered. “At least it’s wearing clothes. . .”

            “Wearing clothes?” asked Noir, with her head tilted.

            “Had to be there,” said Skull with a smirk. “But it doesn’t matter, Panther. She looks totally normal. If you weren’t right here, I’d assume it was you.”

            “That’s true. . . She looks just like me. And Kawakami isn’t any different at all. . . Neither is Mishima.” She crossed her arms and looked down. “So his perceptions of us aren’t distorted either. . .”

            “It seems that way so far. Fox’s theory seems to be holding water,” said Queen.

            “Wait, time out. How can it even be possible to have a palace with so few distortions? It just doesn’t make any sense,” said Skull with a look of frustration.

            “Shh! They’re talking!” said Oracle, interrupting the discussion.

Miss Kawakami looked toward the clock hanging in the classroom. “Well, since we have a little time before lunch, let’s do some trivia. Can anyone answer this question?” she asked. “It’s a tough one, so I doubt it, but . . . Kurusu-kun. What year was the planet Neptune discovered?”

            With no hesitation, the shadow of Akira responded. “1846.”

            Kawakami clapped her hands. “Not bad! That’s the correct answer.” As she went on to explain the history of the discovery, the students started to gossip and whisper. “Hey, isn’t Kurusu-kun crazy smart or what?” asked one. “He’s as smart as he is handsome. . .” replied another. All sorts of comments about how amazing he was started to circulate the room as Akira went back to staring out the window with a wider grin on his face.

            “Oh, I get it. . .” said Panther. “The distortion here isn’t the shape or the people in the school, but the way Akira is treated.”

            “Definitely. Even if the rumors about him bringing knives to school and beating people up disappeared, I don’t remember him ever being this popular. . .” said Mona.

            “So maybe Akira-kun wants to be popular?” asked Noir.

            Mona shook his head. “Just because he wants it doesn’t mean it’s something we’d see in here. It has to be that he actually thinks he’s popular.”

            “I see,” said Fox with a hand on his chin. “If he really thinks of his world as perfect, it makes sense that he’d assume everyone was fond of him.”

            “I guess. . .” Skull kicked the floor absentmindedly. “But Akira never seemed like the type of guy to be in it for the popularity. Does he really care this much. . .?”

            “It’s unrealistic to think we’ll get a full understanding of a palace this big after just a couple floors of a single building,” said Mona. “I don’t understand it either, but more will probably come to light as we explore more of the palace. For now, let’s just keep an eye on Shadow Akira so he’ll reveal the rest of the pathway to us.”

            The lunch bell rang. The students within the classroom all stood up and started to go their ways, but several of the featureless students approached Akira. “Kurusu-kun, come eat lunch with us!” said a pair of girls. “We need your advice.”

            “Sorry, but Kurusu-kun will be eating lunch with us today,” said a group of boys. “We need his help with our homework.”

            The cognitive Mishima approached him next. “Can’t you eat lunch with me, Akira-kun? I’d really like to talk about you-know-what,” he said with a wink.

            An endless stream of requests flowed toward Akira (or rather, his shadow), and he offered each person a smile and a laugh before speaking. “Sorry, but I’ve already made arrangements with some other friends,” he said, looking to Ann’s duplicate. “Let’s go.”

            The cognitive Ann stood and the two started walking toward the back door of the classroom. “Where do you think they’re going?” asked Oracle.

            “Uh, if they’re goin’ to eat lunch. . . Prolly the rooftop?” suggested Skull. “We eat up there sometimes.”

            “Got it. Let’s hurry up there before they get there!” said Mona, before the group scurried up the stairs as quickly as they could.

           

 

            The Phantom Thieves hid around the corner, just to the left of the rooftop’s entrance. They all peered around the corner in an almost comical manner, one head above the other.

            Skull sighed. “Man, we must look ridiculous. . . What do we gotta’ hide for, anyway? Didn’t Shadow Akira say we were _supposed_ to do this?”

            “Shh!” hissed Mona. “Even if we were told to, we shouldn’t trust a shadow no matter what. And besides, it’s the principle of the thing! Phantom Thieves hide. It’s what we do!”

            “Yeah, yeah. . .” Skull groaned, but quickly shut himself up when the door to the rooftop opened. “It’s them!” he whispered.

            From the doorway emerged the Shadow Akira, tailed by the cognitive versions of Ann, Ryuji, Makoto, and Haru. The group laughed and chatted amongst themselves jovially. “Man, I can’t believe we were able to get this before it sold out! What a great day!” cheered the blonde as he chowed down on the school’s most popular bread.

            “Remember to share, Ryuji. . .” said the cognitive Ann with a suspicious glance toward him.

            A small black cat poked its head out of the shadow’s school bag. “Quiet down, Ryuji. You’re ruining the pleasant ambience of this rooftop!”

            “Shut up, cat! It’s just a roof, ain’t nothin’ ambient about it! Now you’re just lookin’ for something to pick at,” barked Cognitive Ryuji before tearing his banquet free from its plastic wrapping. “But how did we even manage to get one of these? I’ve, like, never seen it in stock!”

            “Guess we’re lucky,” said Akira’s shadow, before taking a seat in one of the abandoned desks on the rooftop. Ryuji and Ann sat on either side of him, while Makoto elected to stand – Haru, ever diligent, went to attend to her planters. “How’s the harvest looking?” he asked.

            “The plants look good! Thank you again for your help, Akira,” said the false Haru with a sweet smile.

            “Don’t mention it,” he said.

            Cognitive Ann shot a glare toward Cognitive Ryuji. “Hey, don’t eat it all so fast! That bread was for all of us, you know!”

            “I can’t hold back. . . It’s just too good!” he said as he bit off another delicious chunk.

            She groaned. “I’ve never seen you tear through anything that wasn’t meat so fast.”

            The cognitive Makoto laughed. “Don’t make such a commotion, or I won’t let you all on the rooftop anymore. . . It’s silly to fight over bread, anyway. I’ll make sure to get us some this Friday, Ann. They usually have leftovers.”

            “That’s our student council president!” cheered Cognitive Ann.

            The Phantom Thieves watched as their conversations took all sorts of turns – boys, girls, tests, teachers, trends. They just looked like ordinary high school students, chatting the day away on the rooftop. As always, Ryuji dominated the conversation, while the others responded or joked at his expense, all while the shadow of their leader watched with the most content of smiles.

            “They look so . . . normal,” said Panther. “They’re not acting any different from us at all. . .”

            “This is, like, creepy similar to the real world. . .” said Skull.

            “Guys, look at Shadow Akira. . .” suggested Noir. They did so.

            Despite his otherworldly yellow eyes, the boy didn’t look like a sinister shadow of any sort. He looked normal. When his friends spoke, he smiled and nodded. When they cracked a joke, he laughed, or grimaced if it was at his expense. He smirked when he made a witty remark or gained an edge in conversation, and he thrashed his bag around when his cognitive cat said something uncalled for. There was nothing remotely shadowy or evil about Shadow Akira at this moment. He just looked like a kid having fun.

            “. . . He seems so happy,” said Oracle.

            “We have to remember that this palace is just what Akira _thinks_ the world is like,” said Mona. “It’s not really perfect; the whole of Tokyo has fused with Mementos, remember?”

            Queen nodded. “That’s right. Even if the shadow is happy here, the real Akira needs to see the truth. But still, he does look like he’s having fun. . . If this is the world to him, I’m not surprised he’d want to protect it at all costs.”

            “That’s all the more reason to bring him back to his senses!” said Skull with a grin. “I dunno’ what he’s worryin’ about, anyway. After all, it ain’t like anything’s gonna be any different after we take down that Yaldabaoth guy.”

            Mona furrowed his brow.  Something about what Skull just said tugged at him, in a bad way, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was. “Different. . .” he thought aloud, but it didn’t get him anywhere. He shrugged off the feeling. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve seen the world through the shadow’s eyes, right?”

            “We’ve seen what he thinks of the school, so I suppose so. Should we head back to the gate?” suggested Fox.

            “Let’s wait for them to finish eating and then head down,” said Mona. They watched the rest of Shadow Akira’s conversation.

 

 

            Once classes resumed, the Phantom Thieves snuck back down to the entrance, avoiding whatever shadows might’ve crossed their path. They all agreed it was probably for the best that they not fight right now, since they’d finished scouting out the school. Now that they’d made it out, all there was left to see was if the golden road had extended any further.

            “Whoa, check it out, guys!” said Skull from the front of the group. He pointed down the street, and sure enough, where the given pathway had stopped before, there was a continuation. It climbed up into the sky and floated high above the buildings, presumably leading to the next location the shadow wanted them to see.

            Queen smiled. “Great. We know how to get the road to continue on now, and we’ve unlocked another area to explore. I’d say that was productive.”

            Their brief celebration was cut short by a blinding light and the warm voice of Akira’s shadow. He no longer wore his uniform, like he had inside, but instead changed back into his humble robes. He smiled. “Did you enjoy yourselves in this small portion of my paradise?”

            “You certainly looked like you were enjoying yourself. . .” said Panther. “But just because life is good for you in there doesn’t mean it’s good everywhere. What’s happened to the city is horrible, Akira!”

            “I see you don’t understand yet. That’s fine, I didn’t expect you to have been enlightened after just one display. Please, carry on.” He offered them a wave goodbye and started to disappear, but was interrupted by Oracle.

            “Wait, Akira! There’s one thing I don’t understand. . .”

            “Hm?” The shadow humored him and remained floating there for a while longer.

            “All the stuff we’ve seen so far is great, and I can tell you’re happy. And that makes me happy, too, so I understand why you want to protect this world . . . But I don’t get what any of it has to do with taking on Yaldabaoth. That’s what you’re avoiding, right?” she asked, with a look of grave seriousness. “Why don’t you want us to fight him?”

            The shadow frowned, looking perplexed. “You cannot defeat Yaldabaoth. I disallow you from facing him for the sake of this world.” He gestured to the school. “I will not let this end. If any of you die, I will no longer have my perfection. . . That, I cannot allow.”

            “But why? There’s gotta be some other reason than you thinking we can’t win! I know you better than anyone, Akira. . . You’re not the type of guy to back down from something like this. What’s the _real_ reason?” she pleaded.

            “I’ve said enough,” snapped Shadow Akira with an uncharacteristic curtness. “You question me now, but by the time you have taken in all this world has to offer, you will know the answer.” He clapped his hands, and a blinding light emitted from him – when the Phantom Thieves’ vision cleared, he was gone.

            “Grr. . . Damn it!” shouted Skull as he clenched his fists.

            “Calm down, Skull. . . We’re all frustrated,” said Fox.

            “I just can’t stand it. . . I want some answers! I need to know what’s going on in Akira’s head, but every time we find a new hint I just get more confused!”

            Queen cleared her throat. “Evidently, we’re all quite drained from today. . . I think it’d be for the best if we went back to the real world for now and rested.”

            “Good idea, Queen,” said Mona as he transformed into his bus form.

            Skull started to climb in, but didn’t seem any more relieved than he’d been before. “Even if we’re goin’ back, I don’t know how I’m gonna sleep with all this on my mind. . .”

            “I agree with Skull.” Noir crossed her arms and looked down. “Oracle made a very good point just now with the shadow. I don’t feel like Shadow Akira is being completely honest with us. . .”

            “There’s no point in talking about it now. It’s as Mona said – to understand, we must delve deeper,” said Fox.

            Skull gave him a sidelong glance. “I know you’re right, but I still dunno how you stay so crazy calm. . .” He sighed, leaning back in his seat. “Well, I guess it ain’t all bad. We’re makin’ good progress. Think we’ll be able to finish this palace fast?”

            “I hope so. . .” said Oracle. “But it all depends on how much Akira’s shadow wants to show us. Tokyo is a big place, after all. . .”

            “That’s true. Depending on the amount of locations we have to go to, this could take us days. . .” Queen furrowed her brow. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

            “We should discuss our course of action when we get back to Leblanc,” said Noir. All the other Phantom Thieves agreed. There was nothing more to be said, so they sat in silence until it was time to exit the Metaverse.

 

            Akira kept his ears open, waiting for the sound of a train. A part of him wished the train would just get here already – the utter silence of Mementos, combined with the sensation of his shadow leaning over his shoulder, made him desperate to make this all stop. But another part of him – a more reasonable, sensible part – was happy he hadn’t heard anything yet, and hoped he never would. Unfortunately, that part had its hopes dashed when he heard the telltale bustle of wheels over the tracks.

            “It’s coming. . .” whispered the constant presence of Akira’s shadow, with a tinge of excitement in his tone. “I can’t wait.”

            Akira’s heart started beating faster. And faster. He looked to the side, and sure enough, he saw the blood red lights of the approaching subway cars casting light on the walls of the dark tunnels. The light was the only thing he could focus on as the mass of metal hurtled toward the station. In a few seconds, it would arrive, but it didn’t feel like it was coming quickly. It felt like it was just slowly crawling into the station, and Akira couldn’t stand it.

            _My shadow is right,_ he reluctantly muttered to himself in his mind. _I’m nothing. Everyone must hate me._

            The train was a bit closer. The sounds of metal roared, suffocating every sound, even the howls of Mementos. If he jumped now, he wouldn’t even hit the ground before it smashed into him.

            _Here I go. This is what everyone wants. . ._

The train screeched past him. He did not move.

            Akira couldn’t see his other self, but he could tell that, as the train flew by, the shadow looked surprised. And furious. “I thought I told you . . . to die,” he said, almost calmly, but Akira could tell he was seconds away from snapping.

            “I-I can’t,” he choked in response. His pulse skyrocketed as the air behind him seemed to freeze. It chilled him to the bone, but still he remained in place. “I can’t do it.”

            “You coward!” spat the shadow. He gripped Akira’s shoulders and spun him around, his fingers digging into the boy’s flesh like knives. “You’re not even man enough to kill yourself, is that it!? You selfish brat!” Shadow Akira threw his real self toward the rest stop.

            Akira coughed as he fell to the ground, the air knocked out of him. “I-I’m not afraid! I-I just don’t want to lose every—“

            “Bullshit!” the shadow shouted, causing Akira to flinch. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you. If you won’t kill yourself . . . then I’ll do it for you!” The shadow’s skin started to swell, and patches of black ooze started to melt forth from its form. It slowly started to look less like a human, and more like an abomination. Akira had seen countless shadows turn into their true forms, but for some reason seeing it happen to his own body made him want to vomit. He couldn’t bear to see what the shadow looked like when the transformation was over, so he averted his eyes.

            Everything in his body screamed for him to run, and for once, he listened. He wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and bolting toward the stairs. “You can’t run forever, filth! I’ll catch you!” The shadow’s voice was deeper, and more unnaturally filtered. It spoke like a demon, and its roars seemed to shake Mementos to its core. Akira didn’t care, though; he couldn’t afford to think at that moment. He just ran for dear life.

           

             

 

            Akira’s room was as empty as they’d left it when the Phantom Thieves returned to the real world. The sun had fallen over the horizon, leaving the teenagers in darkness when their senses came back to them.

            “Man, I’m exhausted. . .” said Ann with a sigh as she hit the lights. “Mementos and a Palace, all in one day. . . What time is it?”

            Makoto checked her phone. She gasped. “I-It’s almost one in the morning!”

            “For real?!” Ryuji pulled out his own phone to confirm, and sure enough, it was 12:47 AM. “The trains shut down in, like, ten minutes!”

            “Aw, crap. . . We gotta’ get home!” said Ann as she frantically collected her things.

            Yusuke cleared his throat. “Should we not discuss our plan of action regarding Akira’s palace, and what to do about him being in Mementos?”

            “But we won’t be able to make it home if we do that. . .” said Makoto.

            Futaba smiled. “Who cares? You guys can crash here for the night. There’s plenty of space up here, and I’m sure Akira wouldn’t mind.”

            “It _is_ a restaurant, though. . . Are you sure Sakura-san will be okay with that?” asked Haru, skeptically.

            “Uh, I can’t see why he wouldn’t be. He lets a cat live here, after all. . .”

            They were interrupted by a shout from downstairs. “Akira? Is that you?” said the voice of Sojiro Sakura. He came upstairs, but jumped back when he saw the amount of kids inside. “W-What’re you all doing here this time of night?”

            “We, uh, we’re having a slumber party!” said Futaba, pressing her index fingers together and working some of her daughterly charm. “We all wanted to hang out. Sorry for not running it by you first!”

            He didn’t look any less flabbergasted. “T-That’s fine, but why in the store? And where’s Akira?”

            “He, uh, can’t make it home. He stayed out late, and since the subways are shutting down soon, he won’t be able to make it back!” said Ryuji, nodding ferociously.

            “Oh. That’s too bad. . .” Sojiro looked around. “I can get the car out and go grab him if you guys want.”

            “N-No! That won’t be necessary!” insisted Ann, with an awkward, not-at-all convincing laugh. “He’s, uh, staying with a friend! Right, guys?”

            “R-Right. So, is it alright for us to use Leblanc, Boss?” asked Yusuke.

            “Uh, sure. . . I guess.” He eyed them suspiciously, but shrugged, figuring he never knew what these kids were up to anyway. “Just don’t sleep downstairs. I don’t want it smelling like sweat down there.”

            “You got it, boss!” said Skull with a grin.

            “Oh, and if you guys see Akira, tell him he’s in trouble. He skipped school, yeah?” said Sojiro with a cocked eyebrow.

            The Phantom Thieves did their best to hide their look of dejection. “Y-Yeah. . . We’ll tell him if we see him, boss.”

            “Alright. Well, you kids have fun, okay?” He offered them a warm smile, before heading downstairs to lock up.

            The mood hung heavily over them like a curtain of sadness. Being in Akira’s room without Akira himself didn’t help, either – it was like there was something missing. All they could think about was whether or not he was okay, and what they could do to help.

            “So, uh. . .” Morgana spoke up, trying to tear through the near-tangible dejection. “Let’s go over our plans for tomorrow.”

            “Right,” said Makoto. “We’re gonna’ go into Mementos tomorrow and get Akira out, right?”

            “Sounds like a plan. After that, we can head straight into his palace!” Ryuji pumped a fist into the air. “Let’s get hyped up to save our bud!”

            “That plan sounds good to me. . . Does everyone else agree?” asked Haru, looking from person to person.

            There were no disagreements. “Alright, then,” said Morgana. “Right after you guys get home from school we’ll head for the depths. Now, let’s work out sleeping arrangements. Futaba can get the bed, since she’s his girlfriend. . .”

            “Dibs on the couch!” said Ryuji.

            “Hey, don’t make the ladies sleep on the floor!” said Ann insistently.

            “No way! You got the couch in Hawaii, so I get the couch now!”

            Yusuke raised a hand. “If you insist that a man get the couch, I believe I should have it.”

            “What? Why? You weren’t even there!” jeered Ryuji.

            “I simply wished to be contrarian. It’s fun to see you get so flustered,” said Yusuke with a laugh.

            “Let them fight over it. . .” said Makoto, rolling her eyes. “Akira has some fairly thick blankets up here. I’ll sleep on the floor with those.”

            “You’re too kind, Mako-chan. In that case, I think I will sleep on the floor as well! Is that what they call ‘roughing it’?” asked Haru with an ambivalent smile.

            Ann widened her eyes. “N-Not exactly, Haru. . .”

            Futaba watched all the antics with a small smile. “Don’t worry, Akira. . . “We’ll get you back soon, so you can take part in all the fun,” she said to herself. She moved to crawl into the futon and check her phone, but she heard a noise from downstairs.

            “Did anyone hear that?” she asked, walking over to the staircase.

            Yusuke cocked an eyebrow. “Is someone at the door?”

            “Sojiro must’ve forgotten something. . . Hang on, I’ll go handle him.” She headed down and turned on the lights, before looking around to see who could possibly be down there. She certainly hadn’t expected what she saw.

            A weak voice creaked out from within the black haired boy. “I-I’m back.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this update out later than I wanted to, and for that I'm sorry. I always have trouble deciding whether I want to do a fast update, or a long update. Right now my chapters are usually around 5k words, but that can take a lot of time to write and edit, so I can't post as often as I'd like to. How do you all feel about that? Do you prefer faster, but shorter, updates, or less frequent, but longer, ones? Let me know if you care. Either way, I'll see you next time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira Kurusu has made it back to Leblanc, but so have the remaining Phantom Thieves. What will he do now that they've reconvened?

            Silence was all that drifted through the air of Leblanc as the two stared at one another. Akira wanted to muster the will to speak, to say something, anything, but couldn’t get the words to come out. Too many emotions boiled up within him – he had confronted the possibility that Futaba might be here when he got back, but he had hoped that wouldn’t be the case. He’d had no time to think of what to say to her, so now that he was in the situation, he was incapable of forming anything coherent. _I have to apologize,_ he thought, but the crushing guilt kept him shacked in place, and chained his throat shut.

            Futaba felt a similarly conflicted cacophony within herself as she struggled to take action. Seeing Akira filled her with considerable relief, but she hadn’t had enough time to think about what she would do when they inevitably did reconvene either. She didn’t know what to say or do; she didn’t know whether to scold him or forgive him, or whether she should be distant and cold or leap into his arms and thank him for returning. The fear and uncertainty rooted her down, leaving her standing across from the boy who’d shot her not even twenty four hours ago.

            Of course, the silence couldn’t persist forever. “Hey, Futaba, what’s going on?” asked Ann as her footsteps rang out from the stairwell. “If you don’t get back up here, I’m gonna take the bed,” she said teasingly as she emerged, but the comfortable smile on her face vanished as she saw Akira across the room.

            Akira tensed even more. Seeing Futaba had been painful enough, but to see yet another of the friends he’d hurt so gravely at the same time was far too much. He staggered backwards, considering running away and refusing to confront this situation, but Ann spoke to him.

            “A-Akira? What’re you . . . How did you get here?” she asked.

            Even though they weren’t threatening, Akira flinched at every word as though they were wrathful. His consciousness deceived him, turning every word into a vitriolic accusation or attack on him personally. “I-I’m sorry. . .” he choked out – or, rather, tried to. The words came out like uncomfortable grunts instead.

            “We should get him upstairs,” said Ann, looking to Futaba. “No doubt he needs to rest. You can explain everything to us up there, okay?” The second part of the comment was directed at Akira, but he didn’t want to go upstairs, nor did he want to explain everything. In truth, he wasn’t even sure why he came here; he wasn’t prepared to see anyone.  

            He took a backwards step toward the door, but his leg quaked underneath him, and the siren call of his home was too much to deny in his state of exhaustion. He begrudgingly nodded and started to walk toward the stairwell.

            “Akira. . .” Futaba frowned, watching her boyfriend’s actions with no small degree of both fear and sadness. Nonetheless, she let him walk past her, then walked upstairs herself.

 

            “Okay, Akira. . . First of all, how did you get back from Mementos?” asked Morgana from the floor.

            Akira sat on top of his futon, while the others sat on chairs surrounding him. They all watched him expectantly, some with concern, others with skepticism, their eyes boring into him. He hated this feeling. It made him feel as though he were in the interrogation room again. Part of him didn’t want to respond at all, but he was still desperate to make an effort to win them back. “I-I ran.” He paused. “A lot. . . I-I didn’t want him to catch me,” he added, as though verifying why he’d run away to himself. The stunning memory of his shadow dissolving into black filth dug its way back into his mind. It took all he had not to shudder.

            “Him? Who’s him?” asked Ann.

            Makoto tapped her chin. “Could it be that shadow that shows up on floors we spend too much time on? Maybe Akira was in Mementos for too long.”

            Akira shook his head. “No, it wasn’t him. . . It . . .”

            He was going to continue speaking, but a flickering black cloud at the edge of his vision distracted him. He looked toward it, and from within the pits of darkness emerged a face Akira had hoped to never see again – his own.

            His shadow laughed spitefully, although his friends didn’t seem to notice its existence. “You’re not gonna tell them, are you?”

            Akira’s hands started to shake. He kept his eyes trained upon the shadow’s hateful gaze, doing his best to hide his quivering form from the observing Phantom Thieves as sweat started to form on his forehead. “I-It was . . .” He tried to speak, but the words came out shaky.

            “After all, if you tell them, they’ll know. . . They’ll know you don’t have a Persona anymore. They’ll know you aren’t Joker. . .” The shadow’s grin grew more mocking by the second. “And they won’t want you anymore. You can’t have that, can you?”

            The shadow slowly faded from his vision. Akira stared at the corner for a little longer, before turning his attention back to his friends. They stared at him, shocked by his sudden shift in mannerisms.

            “Uh, dude? You okay?” asked Ryuji, leaning forward in his seat to inspect Akira’s face. “You’re sweating.”

            Feeling the need to clear the air, Akira laughed, though it felt forced and out of place in the stagnant attic air. The laughter made them look perhaps more shocked than his initial fear. “I-I’m fine,” he croaked out as casually as a panic-stricken man could. “Just exhausted is all. Long day down there. . . Now that I think about it, I guess it was the Reaper. My bad.”

            None of the Phantom Thieves looked convinced, but they couldn’t afford to display their disbelief so clearly. “I see,” said Makoto. “Well, we’re very glad you’re okay.”

            The words rang hollow in Akira’s ears. He didn’t feel that she meant it – there was no way they were happy to see him. After all, what his shadow had said was completely correct. . . The only thing they could possibly want was for him to get lost. He’d betrayed their trust, hurt them terribly, and could have killed Futaba. There was no place for a guy like him in their fold anymore. The realization left him totally defeated. _Even if I beg, there’s no way they’ll take me back. . ._ He sighed, but tightened his hands into fists against his lap. _But I have to try. This is the only place I belong!_

            “G-Guys,” he exclaimed, with such unexpected force that he shocked even himself. He let the air cool for a moment before continuing. “I . . . I’m sorry. I can’t apologize enough for what I did. . .” He tugged at the collar of his uniform, which had been drenched in sweat through the night, from fear and exhaustion alike. “I should never have gone behind your backs. I broke our one most important rule. . . And to top that off, I . . . I tried to hurt you, just because you were doing something I didn’t want. . .” he continued, quivering. “A-And Futaba. . .” He brought his eyes to hers, his voice growing shakier. “F-Futaba, I almost . . . God, I can’t stand to think of it. . .” Tears welled in his eyes as he stared into hers, looking for anything in her face that might display some hint of forgiveness.

            “Akira. . .” Futaba watched, her small frown growing larger as she too started to cry. Watching the boy she loved so much be this upset hurt more than any bullet ever could. She wanted to tell him it was okay – she wanted to pour her heart out and leap into his arms and apologize, but something inside her wouldn’t let her. Maybe it was her friends surrounding her, or maybe it was some form of doubt, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say a word.

             

            Akira grew even more disheartened at her reaction. “I-I know none of you want anything to do with me anymore. . . But I still needed . . . t-to apologize. . .” He sniffled, closer to breaking down completely by the second. “You should all go now.”

            None of the teenagers truly knew what to say. They watched their leader, a man who had been so stalwart and strong a few days ago, crumbling before their eyes. The only sounds that filled the room for a long time were Akira and Futaba’s quiet sobs as they struggled to contain themselves, but after a while, the silence was broken by a certain rambunctious blonde.

            “Quit cryin’, man. I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” Ryuji offered him a grin and reached forward, clapping Akira on the shoulder.

            “R . . . Ryuji?” He furrowed his brow, his despair quickly overtaken by confusion.

            “None of us want you to get lost, ain’t that right?”

            Haru was the first to state her insistence. “T-That’s absolutely right! The thought hadn’t even entered our minds.”

            “I agree. We still care about you, Akira,” said Yusuke with a comforting smile.

            Futaba thought about saying something again, but still couldn’t find the strength to. She simply nodded.

            Ryuji gestured at them as if to emphasize their support. “People mess up all the time, dude. Everyone here’s screwed up big in some way in the past! Frankly, seein’ you do it now is reassuring. I was starting to think you were perfect.” He laughed at his own joke, though Akira didn’t. He simply looked shocked.

            “But . . . I—“

            “I don’t wanna hear it, dude. You effed up big, and that’s a fact, but of course we ain’t gonna be mad at you forever about it. Listen. . .” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve had some more time to think about what you were goin’ through. And I’m sure it sucked. All this Yaldabaoth deal stuff lording over your head, trying to protect the Phantom Thieves. . . It’s really been screwin’ with you, yeah?”

            Akira let a small, unenthusiastic chuckle escape his lungs. “Y-Yeah. . .”

            “I can’t imagine livin’ under that sort of pressure. That’d break me in a heartbeat. There’s no way I could keep my cool. So . . . I get why you did what you did. Not sayin’ I agree with it, of course, but still.” He laughed again, and this time a smaller laugh escaped from Akira. “But don’t worry about it. All that weight’s gonna be off your back once we de—“

            Makoto coughed violently, interrupting Ryuji. Everyone stared at her, flabbergasted, for a few moments. She smiled politely after the fit was over. “Sorry, sorry. I agree, though. All of this can go back to normal now that we’ve put this whole Yaldabaoth thing behind us.”

            “Huh? What do you mean?” asked Ann, eyes wide.

            Makoto shot her a piercing glance that screamed _I’ll explain later._

            “I-I don’t think I understand either. . .” said Akira, leaning forward curiously, completely oblivious to the obvious subtext.

            “Well, Akira. . . We’ve had time to consider your position now, like Ryuji said, but we’ve also had time to consider our own. You were stopping us to protect us, right?”

            Akira looked as though some light from heaven had shined down on him. He beamed. “Y-Yes, that’s precisely it!”

            Makoto nodded in an extremely patronizing fashion, but Akira was too ecstatic to notice the obvious mistruth in her actions and words. “Now that we understand what happened, we totally get why you had to stop us. That’s why we’ve decided, no more going after Yaldabaoth.”

            Ryuji was nearly floored by the statement. “M-Makoto, what’re you—“

            “I know you guys didn’t want me to tell him right away, but it felt rude not to, no?” She stared at Ryuji authoritatively, silently dictating that they let her do the talking.

            Akira could hardly contain his happiness. _It’s all going to go back to how it was!_ The glee made itself clear through his voice as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. “I’m so glad you guys came to this realization. . . I don’t have to lose any of you. . .!” He wanted to leap forward and scoop them all into a loving embrace, but he realized his own pitiful state of being – he was still damp and sweaty from his sprints through Mementos. Hugging them in this state would be a disservice. “Thank you all so much. You have no idea what this means to me.” He waited for a response, but none of them said anything; they were too shocked by Makoto’s earlier explanation. Still, Akira didn’t notice – he was too happy. “What are you all doing here, anyway?” he asked, trying to segue into conversation.

            “We were waiting for you,” said Makoto, with the precision and grace of an experienced diplomat. “We wanted to talk about this as soon as possible. A shame it got so late, though. . . It _is_ okay that we’re staying here, right?”

            “Of course. Though, if we’re staying together, I should probably get washed up. . .” He laughed as he gestured toward himself. “I stink.”

            “Why don’t you go take a bath?” suggested Makoto. “There’s one across the street, isn’t there? We’ll get ready for bed in the meantime.”

            “That’s a good idea. I’ll go do that,” he said, somewhat awkwardly, before standing. He squeezed past the other Phantom Thieves, giving a wide wake to Futaba, and hurried downstairs, his grin growing ever wider by the second.

            They waited until they’d heard the door to Leblanc shut. As soon as the telltale slam of the door sounded, Ryuji fired off like a racehorse. “What the hell, Makoto!? That’s the opposite of what we’re tryna’ do! Why’d you go and lie to him—“

            “Makoto’s in the right. It’s the basic of basics, Ryuji,” jeered Morgana with a firm glance. “If we told him that we’re invading his Palace so he’ll come back and help us take down Yaldabaoth, what do you think would happen to his cognition?”

             “Oh. . . I understand,” said Haru with a bob of her head. “If we gave him a reason to be worried, his Palace’s security level might go up.”

            “Not only that,” stated Yusuke, “but if we convince him that there is no cause for alarm, he may let his guard down. Excellent thinking, Makoto.”

            “Oh, I get it. . .” Ryuji slumped his shoulders. “Man, I feel kinda’ bad now. . .”

            “You’re not the only one,” said Ann. “He fought so hard to get out of Mementos and apologize to us, but all we did was lie to him. . .”

            “We’re doing this for his own good,” said Morgana firmly. “If anything, his apology proves that Akira’s still deep down in there. We’ve got to help him.”

            “Speaking of his apology. . .” Haru looked to Futaba, who’d been silent so far. “Are you alright, Futaba-chan? You looked miserable back there. . .”

            “I-I don’t know,” she squeaked. “I’m glad he’s safe, but . . . I-I don’t think I was ready yet. And seeing him cry . . . hurt. A lot,” she said, sniffling.

            “Not to pry, but . . . why didn’t you say anything?” asked Makoto, inquisitively. “I figured you would want to.”

            “I . . . I don’t really know myself, to be honest. I want to forgive him and tell him it’s alright, but it just . . . didn’t seem like the time? I don’t know. . .” She sighed. “What I do know is that I want to change his heart as fast as possible, so he can stop suffering. I can’t see him like this any longer.”

            “I’m with Futaba on this one,” said Ryuji. “We’ve gotta get through his Palace double time.”

            Morgana leapt up onto Akira’s bed and meowed once to catch their attention. “It’s all well and good that you’re gung-ho and motivated, but there’s a new factor for us to consider. We can’t let Akira know that he has a Palace, or that we’re invading it. There’s no telling what he’d do if he found out.”

            “That’s true. . . He still has the Meta-Nav, after all. It’s possible he may try to enter and stop us. And if he entered a Palace without his Persona, there’s no telling what could happen,” said Yusuke.

            “Right,” said Morgana. “And Akira may have been fooled by Makoto’s act just a second ago, but he isn’t Ryuji. He’ll definitely find out we’re keeping something from him if we all refuse to hang out with him for days on end, and if we refuse to get together as a group to go to Mementos.”

            Ryuji’s shoulders slumped even more. “I get what you’re saying, but did you have to use Ryuji as, like, a homonym for stupid?”

            “Ryuji, that’s a synonym,” said Makoto with an amused glance.

            “I’m . . . not really helpin’ my point, am I?” he asked with a sigh. “Well, whatever. So what’re we gonna do? We can’t really afford to only go to his Palace on days when he doesn’t want anything.”

            “Hm. . .” Ann thought for a moment. “What if we have someone watch him during the day while the rest of us are in the palace?”

            “Ah.” Yusuke smiled at the idea. “That is a wonderful suggestion, Ann.”

            Haru furrowed her brow in thought. “So we have an Akira sitter?”

            “Let me do it,” insisted Futaba. “I want to make sure he’s okay,” she said with an intense fervor.

            Morgana seemed less than enthused, though didn’t look happy to say it. “I know you want to watch over him, Futaba, but being down our navigator in a Palace of that size isn’t really an option. . .”

“But. . . I wanted to. . .” She considered voicing her desires, but knew it wouldn’t do her any good. She simply nodded.

“You guys should just leave it to me,” the cat continued. “He’s used to having me around all the time.”

            “Well that produces a similar problem,” said Makoto. “You’re our field leader for Palace operations when Akira isn’t around, remember? No one knows Phantom Thievery as well as you do.”

            “That’s true. . . I’m flattered, by the way,” he said with a tiny hint of satisfaction. “But what should we do then?”

            Haru raised a hand. “What if we alternate daily? One person spends time with him each day we go to the Palace. That way, he won’t get suspicious of the rest of us, or us as a group.”

            “Very smart, Haru. I’m impressed,” said Morgana. “Are we all in agreement with that plan then?” His partners in crime offered a chorus of confirmation, so he looked around the circle once. “Then tomorrow’s our first fully fledged infiltration day. Who’s on Akira duty?”

            Ryuji held a thumb up. “I’ve got this one. You can leave it to me to keep him off you guys!”

            “Alright. Then it’s a unanimous decision! We continue our infiltration right after school tomorrow. Now quiet down and try to look casual. He’ll be back any second.”

            The Phantom Thieves went about preparation for bed, setting up blankets and whatnot on the floor while they shed their blazers and got comfortable. For a while, it was fun for them to mess around and pretend nothing was wrong, but the tension returned to the air when they heard the door open downstairs. Akira came back up with a small smile on his face, already changed into his baggy pajamas.

            “Sorry you guys have to sleep on the floor. . . Futaba, did you want the bed?” he asked, though the casualness of the interaction faded shortly afterwards. Speaking with her still made him nervous – even if he’d gotten the rest of the group’s forgiveness, she’d still been crying while he apologized, and had never directly forgiven him. For some reason, he didn’t feel as though he had the right to speak to her.

            She looked toward him with a somewhat forced normalcy. “Oh, that’s fine. You know me well enough to know I can sleep anywhere!” she joked. It got a rise out of some of the Phantom Thieves, but the statement nagged at both her and Akira alike.

            “No, I insist. I want you to be comfortable.” In truth, her sleeping on the floor didn’t sit well with him at all. He remembered stories from Sojiro about how Futaba’s uncle treated her, how he’d made her sleep on the floor “like an animal,” as Sojiro had put it. He refused to be anything like that man. Though, a constantly nagging voice – probably his shadow’s – insisted he was already worse than her uncle, considering her uncle never shot her. Internally, he knew the shadow was probably right. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

            She offered him a smile in return. “Okay. . . If you insist.” For a moment, they looked like the boyfriend and girlfriend they had been before as they looked into each other’s eyes with a clear fondness, but it faded from the air quickly as Futaba turned and paced toward the bed.

            Ann spoke from the couch, which she’d successfully wrenched from Ryuji earlier in the night. “We should get to bed if we don’t want to sleep through classes tomorrow. Goodnight, everyone!”

            “Goodnight,” they all said in tandem as lights were turned off and phones were shut down.

            Akira smiled to himself from his blanket hovel in the corner. “Goodnight. . .” he said quietly, nestling up into the warmth around him. The floor was uncomfortable, but for the time being, he didn’t care. Being surrounded by his dear friends, having fun and loving life, was all he could ever possibly want. _Everything is going to be okay. . ._ he thought to himself as he closed his eyes.

            “Do you really think so?”

            A pair of golden eyes pierced his own from across the room. Even wreathed in darkness, Akira could see his shadow’s mocking smirk outlined below the sickly yellow. “I wonder if everything _will_ be okay. . . After all, you can’t keep it from them forever. What will you do when they find out you don’t have a Persona anymore? There’ll be no more Phantom Thieves for you. . .”

            Akira clutched the side of his head as pain shot through it, but didn’t actually speak back. He didn’t want to wake anyone. _Maybe if I just . . . think things at it, it’ll hear me._ He closed his eyes and concentrated. _You don’t know anything. This is where I belong. . ._

            “Hah! You look ridiculous. What a joke. . . How can you belong here when they’re clearly lying to you? There’s no way they’d forgive you so easily! I bet they’re plotting your downfall as we speak. . .”

            His theory worked, but it didn’t feel like he’d gained any ground in the conversation. He grew flustered. _No! That’s not the case. Everything is going back to the way it was!_

            “Quit kidding yourself! Even if _they_ forgave you, did you see Futaba? The girl’s a wreck. I bet she’ll never truly get over you shooting her.”

            “T-That’s not true! Shut up!” he whispered aloud, before covering his own mouth with his hand. Akira sat in the silence for a while, hoping desperately that no one heard him. No one said anything, so he assumed they hadn’t, but that didn’t stop his shadow from laughing hysterically.

            “You’re such an idiot! Can’t even think right,” he jeered. “But nonetheless. I’m your true self, so don’t even try to deny me. You know it as well as I do – you’re worthless. Not that you’re going to do anything about it, you subservient trash!” With one last laugh, Shadow Akira’s yellow eyes started to fade from the room as the bout of hallucinations ended, leaving Akira alone with his thoughts for the night.

            _He’s wrong. . . I’m not useless. I'm not weak. I'm not subservient! I’m not. . . And this. . .This is where I belong. . .!_ He insisted inside his head. He continued repeating such thoughts to himself in his mind until eventually he fell asleep.

            Across the room, Futaba grimaced from within her sheets. “He’s talking to himself. . .” she whispered, remembering well how she used to do the same thing when her shadow came to visit her. “This is worse than I thought. . . Hang in there, Akira!” she murmured into the warm blankets surrounding her. She tried to calm herself with thoughts about how this could get better, but the relief never came. All she could do was hope desperately that they could save Akira before any irreparable damaged happened to his psyche.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading another chapter. This one was a little shorter, and I apologize for that (it's funny, because almost all the commenters said I should do long updates!), but I didn't feel good about not getting an update out for so long and this chapter felt like it ended at a decent point. Look forward to a longer update next time! Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves enact their master plan, but some unforeseen complications arise.

**Group Chat:** Akira Salvation Squad

 

            Ryuji: _Looks like we’re all in here now! Can you guys see this?_

            Makoto: _Akira Salvation Squad. . . What a silly name. I take it you came up with this, Ryuji?_

Ryuji: _Quit assumin’ I’m responsible for all the bad stuff! Just ‘cause it’s silly it’s gotta be mine? That’s profiling, prez._

            Ryuji: _And besides, I didn’t come up with the name. It was Yusuke._

            Ann: _Wait, really?_

            Yusuke: _Indeed. I had suggested ‘Akira Rescue Squad,’ but that seemed a tad mundane given the stakes._

            Yusuke: _Additionally, with the religious themes of his Palace, ‘Salvation’ seemed appropriate. Wouldn’t you agree?_

            Ann: _Uh. . . Not to be rude, Yusuke, but . . . wouldn’t the acronym for ‘Akira Salvation Squad’ be ‘ASS’?_

_Yusuke is typing. . ._

_The **Group Chat** name has been changed to ‘Salvation Squad of Akira.’ _

Yusuke: _Is that better?_

Ryuji: _Now it just sounds stupid!_

            Haru: _It’s okay, Yusuke. I quite like the name!_

Yusuke: _Thank you, Haru. It is nice to see you are a woman of taste._

            Ryuji: _Dude, it’s Haru. . . I’m, like, 90% sure she’s saying that just to be nice._

            Makoto: _At any rate, we established this chat with an express purpose in mind; planning for our infiltrations of Akira’s palace._

            Ann: _Yep. We’re still green lit for after school today, right? We’ll all infiltrate while Ryuji handles Akira?_

            Ryuji: _That’s the plan! While you guys tear up the Palace, I’ll keep Akira nice and occupied. He won’t know a thing! Besides, the guy deserves to have a little fun after a whole day in Mementos. It’ll be good for him!_

            Makoto: _Good thinking, Ryuji. Unrelated, but is Futaba awake? She was still asleep when we left Leblanc._

            Futaba: _You underestimate my sleep schedule! I lead a morning person’s life, you know._

            Makoto: _Has Akira left for school?_

            Futaba: _Yep. He left a little while ago. Well, I assume he was going to school. . . He was in his uniform._

            Ryuji: _You didn’t talk to him?_

            _Futaba is typing. . ._

            Futaba: _No._

            Ryuji: _Right. . . Well, it doesn’t matter. Ann will see him in class if he’s here anyway._

            Ann: _I’ll keep an eye out!_

Ann: _We’re gonna get together as soon as school is over, right? Where should we meet up?_

            Yusuke: _Leblanc is most certainly out of the question. . ._

            Haru: _Why not meet up where we met yesterday before going to Mementos? At that subway station in Shibuya._

            Makoto: _Sounds good. Morgana can’t read these messages, so someone make sure to tell him!_

            Ann: _You can count on me. I’ll make sure he sees it. See you all after school!_

Ryuji: _See ya!_

 

 

            Akira smiled ever so slightly as stared out the window of the classroom, tapping his desk with just a tad more enthusiasm than usual. Even the bland and boring view through the first floor window couldn’t get Akira down today; too much had gone well for him last night. His life had been salvaged, and the world he couldn’t stand to part with remained intact. Not only that, but the friends he’d sworn would despise him after all he’d done had forgiven him. Better still, they’d had a fun slumber party immediately afterwards, despite what had happened that same day. Things couldn’t be going better. _I don’t have to lose anything. . ._ The thought swelled within him, and when he caught sight of his reflection in the glass, he noticed he was grinning like an idiot.

            A moment later, something flickered within the pane – it looked as though the smile Akira wore grew sinister, and his eyes flashed a cold and unforgiving yellow. Akira thought he heard laughter in the back of his head, as if his shadow was tormenting him from within the reflection.

            He blinked hard, as though to cleanse the image from his eyes, and sure enough, when he opened them once more, the shadow was gone, replaced with the mundane image of a normal student staring back at him. _I must be imagining things._ He sighed and allowed his shoulders to slump as he looked toward the person in front of him.

            Ann looked like she was studiously paying attention to the lecture. Akira still could hardly believe his friends were that ready to accept him back into their group after what he’d done. _I really lucked out. Now, everything is back to normal. . ._

            He frowned as something dawned on him. _Almost everything. I still have to talk to Futaba. . ._ He covertly pulled out his phone and flicked through his apps under the table, out of the view of the slumbering cat within the cubbyhole. _Maybe I should text her,_ he thought to himself. It was the only way to get things completely back to normal, after all, and that was what Akira wanted more than anything, so he’d have to do it sooner or later. _Better now than never, right? I’ll just ask to talk,_ he thought, as he prepared his messaging app. Once he had it open, he typed out a simple request: “I want to talk to you after school today. Is that alright?” The message read fine when he glanced it over. _Now all that’s left to do is send it._

            His finger hovered over the send button, but for some reason he didn’t press down on it. All he did was stare down at the message he’d written. It was a simple enough text with a simple enough request but he couldn’t bring himself to fire it off. Maybe out of fear, maybe out of guilt. He didn’t have time to decide – the aggravated voice of his teacher called his eyes to the front of the classroom.

            “Kurusu, are you paying attention?”

            Akira nodded his head and closed the messaging app without sending anything. His wordless reply seemed to satisfy the teacher, who went back to lecturing, but their eyes constantly roamed back to check on Akira, so he didn’t have time to use his phone. He tried to hide his annoyance as he glanced at the clock. _I guess I’ll just send the message some other time. Man. . . When do we get out of here, anyway. . .?_ Just like that, his happy thoughts were replaced with annoyance once again, about how he’d always preferred the second year classrooms over the third year’s.

 

            Classes ended for the day, and Ann stood up in front of Akira. He watched her, somewhat puzzled – she seemed to be in a rush, though why she would be was beyond him. She hadn’t mentioned having any plans when they talked this morning. Nonetheless, Akira put on his brightest smile and tapped her shoulder. “Hey.”

Surprisingly, she spun around like she was being heckled. When she saw it was Akira, her nervousness faded, although only a little. “O-Oh, hey, Akira! What’s going on?” she asked in an exaggerated tone.

He rubbed the back of his neck, somewhat embarrassed to say. “Nothing really. . . I was thinking we could all get together after school today. I was gonna ask if you were interested.”

            His suggestion got a look of bewilderment from Ann. Akira couldn’t help but be a little surprised by her reaction – was it that staggering that he wanted to hang out? “U-Uh, today?” she squeaked out.

            “Yeah. . . I still feel awful about everything that happened yesterday.” This statement was only partially true – in truth, he was extremely happy that they hadn’t cast him out, but it would be a lie to say the guilt didn’t chew at him. If only a little. “I don’t think I’ll be able to put it behind me until I’ve made it up to you guys in full, so I thought we could go out and get some nice food or something. Plus, I don’t need a reason to want to be with my friends, do I?” He made sure to smile as he made the offer, but something about her flabbergasted reaction bit at him. To him, it looked like she was reacting to a confession from a particularly undesirable classmate rather than an offer to hang out from a friend. _Maybe she just doesn’t want to spend time with me. . .?_

            She frantically laughed, yet another sign that something was off, but Akira couldn’t place what it could possibly be. “T-That sounds great, but it’ll have to be another day. See, I already made some commitments with some friends to get crepes! I’d feel bad canceling on them, you know?” She did her best to sound jovial, but internally she was panicking. Ann knew she was never the best actor in the world, but at that moment she just prayed that her performance would be enough to fool Akira.

            Against all odds, her performance worked. “O-Oh. Right. Yeah, I didn’t know you already had plans. Sorry for asking,” he said, masking his dejection by pushing up his glasses.

            Despite his attempts to hide it, Ann noted his disappointment. She bit the inside of her cheek, wanting to console him, but she had to remain strong – this was for Akira’s sake, after all. “Well, I should get going! Don’t wanna be late. See you later!”

            She bolted out the room like it was on fire, slamming the door shut as soon as she’d cleared it. Akira could do nothing except blink. In an effort to recover from the interaction, he turned back toward his chair. “That was weird, huh, Morgana?”

            He looked down to the hole in his desk, seeking the feline friend that always loitered around within, but at first glance it was empty. “Morgana?” He leaned down and peered deeper inside, but unless the cat had somehow gotten even stealthier and managed to hide in plain sight, he just wasn’t in there.

            _That’s strange. . . I could’ve sworn he was in here during class._ Akira shrugged it off. _Maybe Morgana had to take a leak or something._ He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and pulled out his phone to see if he’d gotten any text messages. When he opened the app, the only thing he saw was the message he’d prepared to send to Futaba.

            _I want to talk to you after school today. Is that alright?_

            He eyed the words cautiously. _I should text her. I don’t have any other plans._ Again his finger drifted to the send button, but that wasn’t the mark it met – instead he held down backspace, and when the text box was clear, he prepared a new message.

            Akira: _Hey._

She replied surprisingly quickly.

            Futaba: _Hey._

            Part of him had hoped Futaba wouldn’t text back. It would mean he wouldn’t have to confront this so soon, but nonetheless, she’d sent a reply. Which meant it was his turn to send one back. He gulped, and fired off another text.

            Akira: _How are you?_

            He’d wanted to be more direct about his desire to talk to her, but bringing it up seemed to grow even more difficult by the second. The now-familiar sensation of stressful sweat graced him once again as he awaited her response.

            Futaba: _Fine. You?_

            Her brevity was almost frightening. Futaba was normally extravagant and outlandish in her text conversations, with emojis and jokes sprinkled in alongside her intelligent, if childish, comments. One word replies and questions definitely weren’t in her usual repertoire. But nonetheless, that’s what she sent Akira now. His heart sank even deeper as the dread built within him. His intentions had backfired; the small talk wasn’t making him any more willing to send her the question he wanted to ask.

            Akira: _I’m pretty good. Class was boring, but isn’t it always?_

            The snide remark was plain, and Futaba had no doubt heard it a million times, but he hoped it would liven up the mood, and maybe transition into a more casual conversation.

            Futaba: _I dunno. I haven’t started classes yet._

            Akira grimaced at the response. His comment was lighthearted, and her response was anything but. Not only that, but she brought up something personal, like her attending school? Things were going even worse than he’d anticipated, and continued to spiral downward with each message.

            His hands quaked, but at least now he knew that he had to skip the idle conversation – it wasn’t going anywhere. All he could do now was cut to the chase.

            Akira: _Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a bad subject._

            Akira: _Listen, I wanted to talk to you. Just the two of us. Is it possible we could spend some time together today?_

_Futaba is typing. . ._

            The message displayed for a long while on Akira’s screen, but no reply came for several minutes. He clutched his phone deathly tight as he awaited what she was going to say. _It must be a long response, right? For her to take this long to type it out, I mean,_ he thought to himself as if trying to convince himself that she wasn’t just ignoring him.

            He was right. She wasn’t ignoring him, but as soon as he saw the message, he’d wished she had been.

            Futaba: _Today doesn’t work. I’m busy._

            Futaba: _Can we schedule another time?_

            Akira ignored the overflowing despair and tried to remain hopeful. _Maybe she really is just busy. I doubt she’s avoiding me._

            Akira: _That’s fine with me. How does tomorrow sound?_

            Futaba: _I’ll probably be busy tomorrow too._

            Futaba: _I won’t be available for a while, actually. How about I just tell you when something opens up?_

            Akira was far from stupid. He knew Futaba rarely had anything to do that wasn’t Phantom Thieves related – not because she wasn’t hardworking or anything, but because she rarely left the house unless it was to hang out with friends. Her being ‘busy’ was out of the question, unless it was with Sojiro, and even then she’d be at Leblanc, so they could definitely find time to talk during lulls between customers. The only reasonable explanation for her refusing to talk to Akira that he could come up with was that she simply didn’t want to. The realization took Akira’s already dashed hopes and ran them over a few more times before tossing them into the trash. There was no way things could return to normal if Futaba just didn’t want to be around him anymore. How could they be lovers, let alone Phantom Thieves, if things stayed like this?

            Still, she needed a reply, so Akira obliged.

            Akira: _I see._

            It wasn’t really a fitting reply, nor did it answer her question, but it was the only thing he could manage to type in his state of utter dejection before setting his phone down on his desk. _She hates me. She totally hates me. . ._ He wallowed in self-pity for a moment, but his eyes were quickly drawn to window next to him as the image within swirled about.

            “See? What’d I tell you?” The chilling voice made Akira shudder as the shimmering image solidified into his very own shadow. “She hates your guts. And Ann, too! She didn’t wanna hang out with you at _all_! I wonder why. . .” Shadow Akira stroked his chin contemplatively, before snapping his fingers. “Oh, I know! It’s because she doesn’t wanna spend time with some low life idiot who tried to kill her friend.”

            “S-Shut up. . . Why won’t you just go away!? I’m a Persona user, dammit. . . You’re not even supposed to exist!” Akira tried to muster up some force in his words, but they were utterly lacking in power, partially due to the fact that Akira said them quietly to avoid getting any unwanted attention from his classmates, and partially because Akira didn’t have the inner strength to truly lash out at his shadow.

            “You _were_ a Persona user,” jeered Shadow Akira. “And didn’t I tell you not to try to act tough? I know the real you,” he spat with annoyance. “Well, not like it matters. You’ve still got your ‘perfect world,’ right?” Shadow Akira casually stuffed his hands into his pockets, almost as though mimicking the real thing’s behavior. “We’ll see how long that lasts if you keep being a dumbass. After all, Futaba’s already gone. I’ll look forward to watching you suffer until everything collapses around you, and you finally die like you’re supposed to.”

            Like that, the shadow faded, but the dread hanging over Akira didn’t. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he swallowed forcefully, taking deep breaths to calm himself after his encounter with such a terrifying entity. Several students had started watching his outburst with puzzled expressions. One even approached him and cautiously spoke up about his odd behavior. “Uh, Kurusu-kun? Are you alright? Do you need me to get the nurse?”

            “I-I’m fine,” he said, shakily, as he stuffed his phone in his pocket and lifted his bag further on his shoulder. Without waiting for the other student’s response, he briskly walked toward the door and left the classroom.

 

 

            Futaba stared down at her phone screen as the notification sound went off. She had expected a message from one of the Phantom Thieves, asking her whether or not she was on her way to their designated meeting point. However, the name was not one of the Phantom Thieves on the heist; rather, it was the name of the target. Akira Kurusu.

            Akira: _Hey._

            The message was short and simple, but it still set Futaba’s heart aflutter – and perhaps not in a good way. A state of uncertainty overtook her, regarding what he could be texting about, and what she could possibly reply to him with. _I can’t think of anything. . ._ _Still, I can’t ignore him. I’ll just send back something simple!_

            Futaba: _Hey._

            Futaba nearly brought her forehead to the desktop in front of her. _Why would you do that, Futaba!? You just sent back the same word!_ She frantically considered sending another message, but decided against it. _It’d probably just make things more awkward,_ she thought as she patiently awaited his next text.

            Akira: _How are you?_

            _He’s making conversation! I should send back something polite, but still amicable! Come on, Futaba. . . You’ve played enough video games to know what dialogue to choose by now!_ She sent off her next message confidently.

            Futaba: _Fine. You?_

            This time, her forehead _did_ connect with the desktop in front of her. She audibly groaned. _That’s waaay too blunt! Why would you send a message like that!? Now he probably thinks you don’t want to talk at all!_ However, despite what her internal scolding of herself suggested, he did send her yet another message.

            Akira: _I’m pretty good. Class was boring, but isn’t it always?_

            Futaba felt a second wind coming. _He made a joke – an unoriginal one, but a joke nonetheless! I should send one back too._

            Futaba: _I dunno. I haven’t started classes yet._

            Initially, in her panic, Futaba had thought the comment sounded jovial enough, poking fun at the fact that she was starting school soon, but when she read Akira’s reply she learned it had been interpreted quite differently.

            Akira: _Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a bad subject._

            _Bad subject . . .?_ She read back over her message, only to realize that what she’d said hadn’t been charismatic or charming at all. If anything, it sounded like a guilt trip. _T-That wasn’t what I meant! Maybe I should text him and tell him it was a joke. . . Ugh, but that’d be so embarrassing! Think, Futaba!_

            Fortunately, she didn’t have to think much longer. Akira changed the subject right afterwards.

            Akira: _Listen, I wanted to talk to you. Just the two of us. Is it possible we could spend some time together today?_

            Her heart beat quickly in her chest, but not in the way it normally did when she got a request from Akira. What was normally indicative of love and excitement was currently indicative of fear and stress. _I can’t hang out with him today. . . We’re investigating his Palace,_ she thought, firmly convincing herself. But her resolve wavered shortly afterwards. _Although. . . I kinda wanna talk to him about what happened. . ._

            Her internal debate continued for quite some time, but eventually her logical side won the argument. _I can’t leave them in the Palace without their navigator. I’ll just have to turn him down. Respectfully, but firmly!_

            Futaba: _Today doesn’t work. I’m busy._

            A whole new wave of panic set in. _That sounds so dismissive! I didn’t even give a good reason! Well, I don’t really have a good reason, and I can’t just say ‘Can’t come, infiltrating your Palace,’ but still!_ She rubbed her temple and concentrated, trying to form any redemption for this train wreck of a conversation in her mind, until a flash of inspiration struck. _I know! I’ll ask him if another day works for him! That way, it doesn’t look like I’m writing him off completely._

            Futaba: _Can we schedule another time?_

            Akira: _That’s fine with me. How does tomorrow sound?_

            Her newfound confidence immediately disappeared. _I can’t do tomorrow either. We’ll be working that day, too. . . Wait, I can’t do any day until we finish his Palace! And I have no idea when that’s gonna be!_ She shook her head, rattling her brain as though to silence her internal hysterics. _I’ll just have to tell him I won’t be available for a while. There’s nothing else I can do._

            Futaba: _I won’t be available for a while, actually. How about I just tell you when something opens up?_

            Her fingers pressed the send button before she had even confirmed what she’d typed. _‘Opens up. . .’ It sounds like I’m forcing him to make an appointment!_ Futaba’s head firmly thudded against the desktop, her own ineptitude leaving her utterly defeated. _You’re a mess, Futaba. . ._

            Akira shot back a short “I see” message, but Futaba was far too wallowing to notice her phone vibrating. She sat against the desk for a long time, thinking about how horribly that had gone, until she got a glimpse of the digital clock on her monitor screen. _We’re meeting up soon. . ._ She sighed and started gathering her things, figuring she could at least distract herself with work for the time being. Maybe.

 

 

            Akira walked toward the school gates with little to no motivation, looking at the clouds overhead. It was a wonderful day – at least, a wonderful day for downtown Tokyo, but it certainly didn’t feel that way after what had just happened. _I guess I’ll just . . . go home,_ he thought to himself as he stepped past the gates.

            An arm quickly seized him, wrapping around his shoulder and forcing him to slouch over even more than he already was. “Yo! Akira, my man! Just the guy I was lookin’ for!”

            “Ryuji. . .” Akira gave the blonde a sidelong glance and did his best to mask his obvious sadness. “What’s up?”

            “What’s up, you ask? Nothin’, right now! But we’re sure as hell gonna’ change that, aren’t we!?” he said, before giving Akira a firm shake. His enthusiasm was normally infectious, but in his current state, Akira was immune.

            “I don’t really get what you’re saying. . .”

            Ryuji scoffed. “Do I gotta’ spell it out for ya? You sure can be dense sometimes, dude. I wanna hang out!” he declared proudly, as though he wanted the whole street to hear him.

            “Hang out?” Akira paused for a moment. “With me? Really?”

            His rambunctious partner cocked an eyebrow. “What’re you actin’ all surprised for? Of course I wanna hang out with my best bud. You don’t got anything going on today, right?”

            Akira thought for a moment. He had _wanted_ to have something going on today, but that didn’t really work out. . . Still, a small smile started to pan across his face. “No, I guess I don’t.” _See? You’re wrong. . ._ said his internal monologue, as though directly speaking to his shadow. _I’ve still got friends who want to spend time with me._

            “Sooo? Since you ain’t doin’ anything, let’s hit the town! I’ve been thinkin’ of all sorts of shit we can do.” Ryuji cleared his throat as he prepared to formally list them off. “I haven’t picked up this week’s manga, so we gotta drop by the convenience store – we’re gonna need it for later tonight. Then, we’re gonna hit the arcade! I know you’re crazy good at Gun About, so maybe you can help make me look good. You’ve already got a girlfriend, so it’s time to share that charm with the rest of us!”

            Akira felt a pang of remorse when Ryuji mentioned Futaba, but covered it up quickly with a laugh. “Fine, fine. Then what?”

            “Then we go to Shinjuku, catch that new movie I’ve been dyin’ to see. Y’know, the one about Buchiko?”

His companion cocked an eyebrow. “ _You_ wanna see a movie about _Buchiko_?”

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for dogs!” Ryuji wasn’t even slightly dejected, and continued with exhilaration. “After that, we high tail it home to Leblanc for some late night gaming and manga readin’!” He offered a big thumbs up as he started leading Akira toward the station.

            “My, you’ve certainly prepared a lot,” he said, somewhat sarcastically. “But if we’re out that late, won’t you have to spend the night at Leblanc?”

            “You don’t mind, do you? My mom already gave me the okay.”

            Akira grinned. “No, I don’t mind at all. Sounds like a blast.”

            Ryuji reciprocated his enthusiasm with a loud cheer. “Hell yeah! The boys are gonna hit the town, baby!”

            Akira grimaced at the scream, but couldn’t help himself from laughing. “Quiet down. . . You’re gonna make us look like delinquents.”

            “Well, aren’t we?” jeered Ryuji as he jabbed an elbow into Akira’s side.

            “I suppose we are,” he replied, all of his worry and doubt fading away as he let himself be carried away by Ryuji’s antics. “Race you to the station?”

            Ryuji smirked at the challenge. “You’re on, pretty boy!”

           

 

 **Group Chat:** Salvation Squad of Akira

            Ryuji: _Akira’s comin’ out of the school building now. I’ll snag him in a sec!_

            Ryuji: _We’re gonna have a blast out here today, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to beat up a few shadows for me! I’ll check in with you guys after you’re done._

            Makoto lowered her phone and nodded once all the Phantom Thieves had convened for the day. “Ryuji will ensure that Akira will be busy all day. That means we should be good to enter his Palace.”

            Morgana offered a firm nod. “Well, no point in waiting any longer. Are we all ready to go?”

            Everyone offered their confirmation, and the Meta-Nav was activated, heralding them into Akira’s palace. They entered atop the rocky cliff they had last time, looking out over the paradise Akira had created within his heart, but something was a tad different about the scene.

            Thunder jumped through the clouds below, which had turned from heavenly golden to a sickly grey. The sun was overcast, so the usual shining lights that coated the paradise were gone, replaced only by the occasional flash of white light from a lightning bolt. And with each shock of electricity, it seemed as though the island in front of them shook, with pieces of rubble tumbling down into the abyss as they were ripped free from the bottom of the island.

            Standing in front of the golden road that led to this once-paradise was Shadow Akira, who watched with his arms crossed. If he noticed the Phantom Thieves arrive at all, he gave no indication of it. He simply continued watching his island with a somber expression, with the occasional sigh passing through his lips.

            “W-Whoa. . . The mood in this place is totally different. . .” said Panther, before the ground rumbled beneath her and her friends. She steadied herself once the tremor stopped. “What’s going on?”

            Oracle summoned her Persona and tried to see if she could get a feel for what was causing the catastrophe, but didn’. “I have no idea. . . It doesn’t look like there are any structural differences. It must have something to do with Akira’s cognition.”

            “You are correct,” called the steely, calm voice of Shadow Akira. “What you see before you is my perfect world. However, now, try as I might to hold it in place, it is crumbling.”

            “Crumbling?” Noir blinked, puzzled. “Why would it be crumbling if it was perfect?”

            The shadow turned to face her with an uncharacteristically irritated glare. “It’s crumbling because you all threaten it. Do you not care? Do you not see the agony you’re bringing to this world?” He swung an arm out toward the landscape to exaggerate his point. “Or will you not stop until you’ve ripped every brick free from this realm, and put an end to my paradise for good?” he asked, his anger bubbling up ever so slightly.

            Mona spoke up after a long period of silence. “This world may be falling apart, but this isn’t how—“

            “Silence,” barked Shadow Akira. “I care not to hear what you destructive ne’er-do-wells have to say. Nonetheless, my offer still stands. You are welcome to peruse my paradise, or rather, what remains of it. Perhaps then you will know that the turmoil you wreak brings us all nothing but pain.” With that remark, the shadow of their dear friend disappeared, leaving them to watch as the cognitive Tokyo in front of them quaked.

            “Oh no. . .” Panther suddenly looked quite concerned. “I think this might be my fault. . .”

            Fox raised an eyebrow. “Your fault? How could it be your fault?”

            “After school today, Akira asked if we all wanted to hang out, but I turned him down, since we had the infiltration scheduled and all. . . You don’t think that caused some change in his cognition, do you?” she asked.

            “Hmm. . .” Queen stroked her chin. “It’s possible, but I don’t think Akira is the type to jump to conclusions from one simple rejection. It would have to be something more serious than that.”

            Oracle looked positively mortified. “T-This has got to be because of the conversation we had earlier. . .”

            “Hmm? What’re you talking about, Oracle?” asked Noir.

            “Akira texted me, saying he wanted to meet up today, but I shot him down. Not just for today, but for the indefinite future . . . a-and I wasn’t exactly, um . . .delicate in my handling of the matter.”

            Mona widened his eyes. “You dumped Akira during an infiltration!? Of _his_ palace, no less!?”

            “I-I didn’t dump him!” she insisted. “I just didn’t handle things well, that’s all! I tried to do deny his offer gently but my fingers moved before I was done thinking and it was all over the place!”

            “Wait, what exactly happened? I don’t think I understand,” said Fox, looking between Oracle and Mona.

            “I’ll explain later!” cried Oracle as she tried to calm herself down. “Oh, I knew I messed up big, but I didn’t know I messed up _this_ big. . .”

            She would’ve continued wallowing if it wasn’t for a bright light from the sky. It looked as though suddenly, as if by the will of a god, the clouds had parted, and a bright light suddenly engulfed the collapsing paradise. All the shaking and rumbling stopped, and the clouds started to return to their normal, golden hue as a voice echoed from the abyss.

            “Hell yeah! The boys are gonna’ hit the town!”

            Queen was truly shocked by the sudden miraculous display. “W-Was that . . . Skull?”

            A chuckle resounded next, though from a different speaker. “Quiet down. . . You’re gonna make us look like delinquents.”

            “And that was Akira!” exclaimed Noir. “Do you think this could be what’s happening right now?”

            Mona cracked a wide grin as he came to realize what was going on. “Remind me to thank Skull for actually fixing things instead of screwing them up for once.”

            Panther scratched her head. “Uh, normally it’s Skull’s job to do this, but I’m gonna have to ask for clarification. . .”

            Mona turned to face the group as he explained. “Akira’s palace was falling apart because he felt like his world was collapsing, right? Probably as a result of Oracle’s rejection.”

            “I-I told you, I didn’t reject him. . . Well, not exactly. . .” she weakly protested, but Mona nonetheless continued.

            “But someone was there to pick him up when he was down. Since Skull wanted to hang out with him, it made him feel like his perfect world was no longer falling apart. That’s why things are back to normal in here, or at least why the island has stopped collapsing for now.”

            Fox inhaled sharply. “I see. . . Though, while that is a good thing, this development presents some additional difficulties.”

            “Right,” said Queen with a nod. “Now we have to pay close attention to Akira’s mood, or the palace could collapse prematurely. We’ll need to be extremely delicate.”

            Noir most concerned by this notion. “What will happen if the palace collapses too early? Wouldn’t that be like what happens with mental shutdown victims. . .?”

            The Phantom Thieves grew quiet as a thick tension filled the air. None of them wanted to face this possibility, but Mona, as the field leader, felt it was his responsibility to keep things moving. “It’s likely that Akira would suffer a mental shutdown, yes. But that doesn’t mean we have to give up or anything. We might have to take things a little slower, or spend more time with him, but we’ll make absolutely certain that his palace doesn’t collapse before we’ve changed his heart.”

            “That’s right,” said Queen. “And that’s also why it’s imperative that we make as much progress as possible in as short a time as we can. We minimize the risk of collapse if we just go as quickly as we can, right?”

            “Then we had best get a move on for today,” said Fox. “Mona, if you would.”

            Mona nodded and transformed, and the Phantom Thieves rolled out, though considerably more dejected than they had been coming in. Oracle especially.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for taking almost a full week to get this one out! I was out of town over the weekend, so I had no time to sit out and write. Hence, this one might feel a bit rushed, even though it took a whole week to update! I promise that my next update will come quicker, and hopefully be of higher quality. Thank you all for your patience!

The telltale sounds of cartoony gunshots and the bright flashing lights emanating from the Gun About machine ended abruptly as one of the two characters facing off against each other dropped dead. “What? No way!” Ryuji almost threw the gun-shaped controller when “DEFEAT” flashed across his screen. His frustration turned to amusement as he turned to Akira, graciously admitting his defeat. “Nice job, man. Though, I thought for sure I was gonna beat you, dude! How’d you even get so good, anyway?”

            Akira chuckled and set the gun back in the arcade console, stuffing his hands into his pockets and smirking like the showoff he was. “What can I say? I had a really good teacher.” His smirk shifted into a fond smile as he remembered his earliest lessons with Shinya, how terrible he was, and how angry Shinya would get about it.

            “He must be some kind of god to have made you this good. . . But whatever. Other people wanna play, so let’s get outta line!” They stepped aside, and Ryuji started to look over the other machines in the arcade. “Come on, there’s stuff we haven’t played yet!” The blonde enthusiastically hurried over to the next machine that caught his interest, before turning around and ushering his leader over.

            Akira smiled as he watched his friend’s eccentric behavior. “I’m on my way,” he said, before beginning to head over. This hangout with Ryuji was really working wonders for Akira; it made him feel loved and wanted, and reassured him that his perfect world wasn’t going anywhere. _Everything is going to be alright,_ he thought, oblivious to the actions of a certain group of Phantom Thieves who were inside his heart at that very moment.

 

 

            Noir stared out the window and perused the cityscape outside, chin propped up on her palm as Queen drove them over the golden road Shadow Akira had made for them. “The weather is nice. . . It seems that Akira-kun and Skull are still having fun outside.”

            Panther groaned, leaning back in her chair. “I wish _I_ was outside having fun. . . We’ve been attacked by so many shadows up here. There’s somehow even more of them here than there have been in Mementos lately. . .”

            “They’re awfully disorganized as well,” said Queen, while still keeping both eyes on the road. “Normally shadows have uniforms and patrol for intruders inside of Palaces, but the ones in here seem to just be running wild.”

            “It could be a result of the fact that Akira doesn’t think of himself as the ruler of this palace. The shadows have no one to obey, and thus, they’re simply doing whatever they please,” suggested Fox.

            Oracle nodded. “That’s the most likely explanation for their behavior, but it certainly isn’t making things easier for us.” She sighed and stretched her arms, making use of the ample space provided by the two missing members of the team. “This has gotta be the weirdest Palace we’ve ever been in. . .”

            “Agreed. . . The cognitions don’t seem different at all, and the shadows are all over the place, not to mention Akira’s shadow and his weird behavior. I mean, how often is it that a person’s shadow invites us on the grand tour?” asked Panther.

            “True. . . While Oracle’s shadow did invite us in, she was someone who _wanted_ her heart changed. Akira seems fervently against it, so his shadow offering us ways deeper is quite strange. . .” Fox furrowed his brow as he thought. “What reason would he have to let us go further?”

            “It seems to me that he wants to ‘convert’ us, but even that seems a little strange when I think about it. . . Why convert thieves who you could just ignore? Is it because we’re friends?” asked Noir, no more confident in her assumption than anyone else.

            “I don’t know what his reasoning thing is, but it looks like we’ve reached our next stop.” Queen slowed the car to a stop and parked it by force of habit before all the Phantom Thieves hopped out.

            Mona transformed back and took a look around. “It looks like we’re on Central Street. . .” True enough, the layout of the surrounding buildings was quite familiar to the Phantom Thieves, despite the fact that they’d all undergone some serious exterior remodeling, what with their limestone walls and gold or silver gildings. Apart from these changes to the building’s appearances, the only discernable difference was the utter lack of any other people. It was impossible to find Central Street truly devoid of life in the real world, but within a Palace, anything goes, so not even shopkeepers were present. It was beautiful, but it was empty.

            Panther looked perplexed. “Why would Akira’s shadow want to bring us to Central Street? Is something about this place important?”

            “I’m not sure. . . But I guess Akira _does_ come here pretty often on his time off, either to shop or hang out with people, so it’s worth a look. Let’s scan all the buildings we can!” commanded Mona.

            With nods of affirmation, the Phantom Thieves moved out. They started by looking through all the stores, but most of them seemed fairly unremarkable. Without vendors, there was no one to talk to, and most of the products on the walls were useless upon closer examination. Even stores Akira had worked at, like the convenience store, seemed eerily empty, so they settled on a shop they knew Akira had spent a lot of time at: the airsoft store, Untouchable.

            Panther opened the door and peeked inside, before offering the rest of her group the signal that it was okay to enter. She stepped inside herself, and they followed shortly after before they all panned out to take a look around. Like the school, this building’s interior was exactly the same as it was in the real world, down to almost every piece of inventory. Even the undeniable atmosphere of a shop for military enthusiasts pressed down on them, as though the store was filled with disapproving customers who didn’t want to see these teenagers here. In fact, there were only two discernable differences: one, that the store’s vendor and any customers were missing, and two, the large podium in the center of the room.

            Atop the podium sat a white book with no title, but intricate trim and golden pages. Noir approached it and leaned down, investigating the book’s exterior. “This looks suspicious. . . What do you think it is?”

            Mona shook his head. “I don’t know. There was never anything like this in the store.”

            Oracle set her hands on the sides of her goggles and ran a scan of the room. “I’ve never seen a reading like this, but it’s giving off the same sort as a cognition would. . .”

            “Not entirely incorrect, though not correct either,” said the now-familiar voice of Shadow Akira. He appeared in front of the door, and all the thieves span to face him, not really shocked by his sudden appearances anymore after it had happened so many times.

            “Well if we aren’t correct, wanna save us some time and tell us?” asked Panther with vitriol, unable to hide her annoyance with his constant popping up.

            He regarded her with a curt nod. “Since simply allowing you to shadow me has clearly been ineffective for those as unenlightened as you, I figure I must offer you a more . . . direct education.” He held out a hand, palm up, to the book on the table. “What you see is a Book of Gospel. Within it are my teachings, and the information you need in order to understand my world. When you have located all of them, you will certainly come to understand.”

            “Unlikely, but if it’s what we have to do,” said Mona. The shadow nodded before slowly fading away, and Mona returned his attention to the book.

Panther scowled after he’d fully faded. “Ugh, his shadow seriously pisses me off. . . He’s making us jump through so many hoops!”

Queen didn’t look as annoyed as she looked confused. “What a strange scenario. . . Making us read books to progress further. Still, I guess Akira reads a lot, and it fits with the theme of the Palace. . .”

            “We aren’t likely to understand until we’ve read the book,” said Fox as he lifted the tome. “Shall I?”

            “Go ahead,” said Oracle with certainty. “I don’t sense anything dangerous about it or around here, so we should be good.”

Mona tried to jump up from the floor, but couldn’t manage to get high enough. He sighed and said, “Someone read it out for me, I can’t see it from down here.”

            “Heehee. I’ll read it for you, Mona-chan!” said Noir, looking over Fox’s shoulder to read it. Once they were all in position, he opened the tome.

            He looked over the golden pages and flipped through a few, but his brow furrowed as he examined the book closer. “It . . . it appears to be empty.”

            However, the tome’s opening wasn’t as uneventful as it seemed to be at first – after a few seconds, the room flashed white, and the book itself seemed to disappear. Fox jumped as it vanished from his hands. “I-It’s gone!” he called, and started to frantically look around the room. The rest of his comrades seemed equally shocked, and the chatter between them only ceased when a loud and assertive “shh” resounded from Mona.

            “Mona? What is it?” asked Queen, kneeling down to the cat’s level.

            Mona pointed a paw forward. “Look!”

            The door to the store opened, and in walked 3 people; the first through the door was the owner of the shop, Iwai, who looked just like he did in the real world. A boy the Phantom Thieves didn’t know walked in behind him, and behind that person was Akira, though strangely, he seemed to be lacking his golden eyes. None of them seemed to even notice the presence of the intruders, and instead, all three wore broad smiles and seemed to be talking amongst each other.

            Iwai laughed heartily. “Man, you two can really put it away. . . You’re gonna eat me outta house and home at this rate.”

            Akira rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, with a display of annoyance that was quite like him. “At the prices you charge me, I doubt you’re going out of business any time soon. . .”

            The store owner snapped back quickly, with an amusement that suggested these quips between them were quite commonplace. “I’m already givin’ you a discount! You want me to dial that back a bit?”

            Unfazed, Akira smirked. “Sure, but I’ll stop shopping here if you do, and you know you can’t afford to lose another customer.”

            “You two really never stop sassing each other, huh?” said the boy the thieves didn’t know. He shook his head, though seemed equally entertained. “I’m amazed you two even became friends.”

            “You’re tellin’ me! You shoulda’ seen this kid when he first started comin’ in here, Kaoru.” He leaned back against the counter as he reminisced fondly. “I couldn’t tell the kid to do anything without him talkin’ back. It was always ‘why can’t you do it yourself’ this, and ‘I don’t want to’ that. Doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, but still, kid had balls talkin’ to me like that.”

            “Don’t pretend it wasn’t what you liked about me,” said Akira with a confident smile.

            “Never said it wasn’t! Knuckleheads like you remind me of myself, and of Kaoru. I guess we’re just one whole family of knuckleheads, huh?” mused Iwai with a chuckle.

            The boy, who must’ve been Kaoru, nodded firmly. “That’s right. Maybe that’s what makes us so cool!”

            “Quit callin’ your old man cool. You think too highly of me,” said Iwai, but despite the scolding he seemed quite satisfied. “And calling _this kid_ cool? You’re outta’ your mind.”

            “Hey, I’m plenty cool,” said Akira, taking feigned offense that made Iwai laugh yet again. The older man threw his arms around the two teenager’s shoulders and pulled them close.

            “Then I guess if Kaoru says so, we’re just a family of cool guys.” He thrashed Akira around a bit for a second. “Speakin’ of, once you’re old enough, we gotta’ get you your gecko.”

            Kaoru beamed. “That’s a great idea! Then when we go out to dinner, we’ll look like a real family with a real family crest!”

            Akira widened his eyes and held a hand up defensively. “C-Calm down. It’s my neck we’re talkin’ about. . .”

            Iwai had another laugh at Akira’s expense before letting go of the two and heading behind the counter. “Alright, we’ve had our fun, but it’s time to work. You’re in charge of dinner, Kaoru, so go buy ingredients.”

            “Yes sir!” Kaoru headed out the door with enthusiasm, while Akira remained behind.

            “Alright, you, we got some work to do. Gotta keep these guns in tip-top shape for the Phantom Thieves, yeah?” he asked with a wink.

            “Yes sir,” said Akira, before heading behind the counter with him, both of them wearing satisfied grins as they started to pick apart and mod the model guns.

            With yet another flash, the cognition disappeared, however, leaving the Phantom Thieves back in the empty store, with Fox holding the book wide open. He stared down into the pages, almost as though he didn’t believe what he’d seen.

            “D-Did anyone else witness that. . .?” he asked.

            Noir nodded. “I did too. . .  That was one of Akira’s friends, right?”

            “I haven’t been in here before, but I think that was the owner of the store. . . The one we did the Mementos request for that one time, remember?” said Panther.

            “So these ‘Books of Gospel’ seem to be cognitions of sorts, or scenes Akira wants us to see. . .” proposed Queen. “Could they be memories of his?”

            “I’d wager they're the cognitive forms of his connections with these people,” said Mona. “The Akira we just saw didn’t have the golden eyes, so it wasn’t his shadow. Just a cognition of a memory."

            Oracle stared down, kicking at the ground idly. “I can see why Akira thinks things are perfect. . . If all my memories were of things like that, I wouldn’t want it to change either. But still, thinking of people as books instead of real people is a little strange. . .”

            Noir nodded. “I agree. If he’s thinking of them as memories, it might mean he’s too focused on the past and can’t think of the present or future. . . If that's the case, I’m worried about him,” she said with a small frown.

            Mona tried to keep things progress oriented, even if the same worries were gnawing at him too. “At any rate, we’ve gotten through one of his books of gospel. Do you think the road will have extended by now?”

            “Only way to tell is to take a look around,” said Queen as they exited the store.

 

            “You beat me at almost everything, dude. . . I brought you out thinkin’ you were gonna make me look better, not worse,” said Ryuji as he walked alongside his buddy toward the station.

            Akira set his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I don’t think I did that well or anything. . .” He shot Ryuji a sidelong smirk. “Maybe you’re just bad?”

            “Quit dissin’ me while actin’ all aloof about it!” he shouted, before they both laughed. Their outburst caused the people walking around them to give them a wide girth, but neither of them seemed to mind at all, simply enjoying spending time together.

            Akira sighed and looked up toward the sunny sky. “Man, isn’t this the best?” he asked, to no one in particular.

            His friend cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean? We already hang out a lot.”

            “I know, just . . . It’s nice to be able to spend time with the people you care about.” Akira’s grin grew firmer and firmer as he continued looking up, rooting himself even deeper in his stubborn ideology.

            His friend watched him from the side with a somewhat solemn expression, which he tried to keep hidden. “I’m gonna help you, man. . . And nothing’s gonna change,” he whispered to himself.

            Akira glanced to the side. “You say something?”

            He was taken aback. “Y-Yeah,” sputtered Ryuji, playing it off not-at-all expertly. “I asked if you wanted something from the vending machine, and if you had any change!”

            “Get me some coffee,” he said, pulling out his wallet and tossing it to Ryuji. “I’ll wait here.”

            “Gotcha. Be right back, dude!” He turned away and quickly hurried toward the nearest vending machine, muttering comments under his breath like “I really need to quit makin’ these comments in places I shouldn’t. . .” as he went to get drinks.

            Akira, with nothing better to do, looked around his immediate vicinity to see he was in the station square just beyond Central Street. People bustled all around him, but even with his obscured vision he knew the area by heart after how many times he passed through. _That’s the way to the Ginza line. . . That’s the crosswalk to Central Street. . . There’s the lottery stand, and there’s . . ._

            His satisfied expression curled into his frown as he looked toward the corner on the other side of the stairwell down to the subway station. It was a painfully generic spot, but he’d stood there for a lot longer than almost anyone else through the course of his cooperation with Toranosuke Yoshida. He remembered well going out late at night and listening to Yoshida’s speeches, all while he stood off to the side, held up a sign, and offered his silent support. Despite their age difference, the two had become great friends over their similar ideology, and had made plans to meet at the summit after they’d helped to rid the world of corruption.

            A gut-wrenching discomfort set itself firmly in Akira’s chest. _That’s what we planned to do, and that’s what I’m doing. . ._ Akira thought to himself, reminiscing over all the corrupt officials he’d eliminated, and all the police officers he’d cleansed. _So . . . why do I feel so guilty?_ He clutched at his chest as a pain shot through it, as though something were happening to his heart.

            In truth, he hadn’t spoken to Yoshida in a long time. They met occasionally to discuss how Yoshida’s plans were progressing, and how Akira was doing in school, but after a while the meetings just sort of . . . stopped happening. Maybe it was because Yoshida got busy, or maybe it was because he saw the corruption he was trying to prevent in his friend, but their meetings had effectively stopped by the time the Phantom Thieves were being accused of “cleansing” the world. _H-He’s not ignoring me on purpose, is he?_ The thought made Akira’s gut turn, and he felt like he was going to vomit. _It’s what I have to do . . . he doesn’t understand,_ he thought, but despite his defense of himself, his unease didn’t go away. In fact, it only grew, until it was replaced by overwhelming fear as a familiar presence appeared in front of Akira.

            “You’re starting to understand more, aren’t you?” said the amused shadow, leaning down toward the writhing and slouching Akira. “Your actions to preserve your ‘perfect world’ have pushed so many people away from you. Just imagine. . . Poor, poor Yoshida. He thought he was friends with a freedom fighter trying to _end_ corruption, but it turned out you were the worst of them all! No wonder he’s ignoring you!”

            “B-Be quiet. . .” Akira gripped his shirt tighter and breathed heavily, as though his inner turmoil was having a serious physical effect on him. For all he knew, it might’ve been, but all he could focus on was his shadow.

            “Your world is crumbling, Akira Kurusu. First it was Futaba, and now it’s Yoshida. . . I wonder when you’ll stop lying to yourself, and realize that there’s only one way to fix things. . . I look forward to when you do.” With a sinister laugh, Akira’s shadow drifted away into the wisps of black and red smoke that surrounded him, leaving Akira gasping for air in the center of the station square.

            He didn’t notice when Ryuji came rushing back and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, trying to offer him support. He barely heard the words that came out of Ryuji’s mouth. “W-Whoa, dude! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked, but Akira couldn’t offer any reply immediately.

            A few moments passed, and eventually Akira had collected enough of himself to stand up straight and speak. “I-I’m alright. . . Just a little tired,” he said, hoping to convince not only Ryuji but himself. “We’re going to Shinjuku, right?”

            Ryuji wasn’t quite dense enough to not pick up on the obvious change of subject, but he let it slide; the objective of this outing was to have fun, after all. “Yeah. I wanted to see a movie. Let’s go get on the train!” he said, trying to muster his enthusiasm, but after what he’d just seen, he couldn’t really match his earlier energy. Nonetheless, he started to lead Akira to the subway station, and Akira followed, trying to ignore the constant discomfort and anxiousness in his mind.

 

            The road hadn’t gotten any longer, so The Phantom Thieves kept looking around the area for more books. They found the next Book of Gospel in the same place Akira and Ryuji were in the real world; the podium sat in front of the corner where Akira had often helped Yoshida give speeches, and the book on top looked almost exactly the same as the first one had. Upon opening it, they were greeted with another incredibly sweet reminiscence, in which Akira was helping a politician give speeches. After the speech was over, they both talked about their plans to change the world, and how they were proud of each other for their efforts. They bid each other farewell, and swore to meet up again in the near future to discuss their progress. After that, the scene ended, and the Phantom Thieves were back where they had been in the empty square.

“That’s another book down. . .” Oracle sighed as she glanced over each of her comrades. “Is everyone feeling alright?”

            “Gonna be honest, I’m kind of exhausted. . .” said Panther as she panted. “The shadows here really don’t mess around.”

            “Well, we have been in here for a while, and we’re down not one, but two members. I’m not surprised that things have been a little difficult for us in here,” said Queen. “We’ve made good progress today, though. If the road has extended, perhaps we should consider going back for now.”

            “Agreed. Let’s go check out the road, guys!” declared Mona, as he turned to lead the charge in that direction, but they all stopped dead in their tracks after they heard the unmistakable sound of thunder cracking in the distance.

            In an instant, the golden clouds started to darken, and the raging storm from earlier was back in full force. The ground shook beneath them as pieces of nearby buildings started to whine and give way. Panther was knocked to the ground by the strength of the vibrations as pieces of the marble pavement cracked, and for a moment it felt like the whole island was going to fall apart.

            Noir’s voice quaked as she called out to her friends, partially because of the shaking and partially because of her fear. “It’s collapsing again! D-Do you think something’s happening in the real world?”

            “I don’t know, but this is way more violent than the last storm. . . Stay strong, everyone!” said Mona, but he himself was having a hard time keeping himself from collapsing due to his small frame.

            From the sky above, a voice bellowed. “You’re starting to understand more, aren’t you?” said the distorted voice of Shadow Akira above. “Your actions to preserve your ‘perfect world’ have pushed so many people away from you. Just imagine. . . Poor, poor Yoshida. He thought he was friends with a freedom fighter trying to _end_ corruption, but it turned out you were the worst of them all! No wonder he’s ignoring you!”

            “Is that Akira’s shadow?” asked Oracle, her voice barely audible over the deafening roars of the collapsing island. “I-It sounds like he’s talking to. . .”

            Confirming her suspicions, the voice of the real Akira spoke back to his double. “B-Be quiet. . .”

            “Oh no. . . He really is hallucinating his shadow in the real world!” said Oracle, even more panicked now than she had been before.

            The shadow continued on its rant, but the deafening sounds of destruction around them drowned the words out, until eventually things started to calm down. They heard Ryuji say “Whoa, dude! Are you okay?” but after that, the voices stopped coming and the trembling stopped. However, unlike last time, when the storm was over, the light didn’t break through and there was no return to the beautiful, golden sky of this paradise. The clouds stayed dark, and lightning still occasionally arced overhead.

            “I-Is it over?” asked Panther as she pushed herself up from the floor, breathing even more raggedly than she had been before.

            “Think so. . .” Queen took a look around. “But look at what’s happened to this place. . .” True to her words, much of the square was destroyed at this point – the pavement below was torn up, the buildings had cracks running up and down their walls, and most if not all the windows had shattered. “It seems to be collapsing a lot faster. I have a bad feeling about this.”

            “I do, too. . . Look up,” said Noir, pointing to the sky. “The storm isn’t clearing up either. Akira must still be upset. . . Does that mean things are still falling apart?”

            “I don’t feel anything, so I don’t imagine it’s still falling apart, but the atmosphere has definitely changed,” said Fox with concern.

            “At any rate, that was his shadow talking. . . And it mentioned someone named Yoshida. That’s the politician we were just seeing, right?” asked Queen. “It seems to me that this is the cause of this storm. . . Maybe he and this Yoshida person don’t get along anymore?”

            “That would certainly be like a part of his world crumbling if he values him so highly that he’d put him in a religious text. . .” said Noir. “Do you think what his shadow said could have made him feel this bad?”

            Mona crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, before he turned his attention toward Oracle. “I get that it was his shadow talking, but I don’t understand how it was speaking to him. . . You mentioned something about ‘hallucinating his shadow,’ didn’t you, Oracle?” he asked.

Oracle kept her eyes trained loosely on the ground, arms wrapped around herself as though she were trying to give herself a comforting hug. “When I had a palace, sometimes I would have these hallucinations. . . Of my mother, or of the guys in black suits. But when things were getting especially bad, I . . . I would see my shadow. It would talk to me, and I’d try to ignore it, but the things it said were awful. . . I think Akira’s going through the same thing.”

            “Wait, so his shadow is terrorizing him?” asked Panther. “I guess the things it said _did_ sound pretty aggressive. . . But that’s kinda’ weird. His shadow is usually pretty nice to _us._ What’s with the attitude change?”

            “This Palace becomes even more of an irregularity the deeper we go. . .” Mona scratched his chin. “We’ve got to get through here, and quick. If his shadow keeps saying things like that to the real Akira, this place will collapse in no time. We can’t let that happen.”

            “Right,” said Oracle. “Let’s go check on that bridge!”

            The remaining thieves all nodded their agreements, and started to head toward the place the golden bridge had dropped them off at, but when they arrived, the bridge had yet to extend. Instead, standing at the end of the pathway was Akira’s shadow, with his arms folded over his chest. He watched them with a solemn expression, and in the darkness brought on by the clouds overhead, he even looked somewhat sinister.

            “Shadow Akira’s here. . .” Mona took an aggressive stance. “Have we not found all your books yet? Is that why you’re here?”

            “Calm yourself. You have located all that you will find here. I simply wished to ask you what you thought of it,” he said, stoically. His annoyance with them from the earlier storm seemed to have faded, but there was still a constant, overhanging negativity emanating from him. “Do you see now why this is perfect? You’ve met two of my dearest friends, so surely you must understand why I am willing to do this to protect this world.”  

            Queen was the first to speak up. “It’s true that they are beautiful memories, and I can see why you value them. But you’re being too closed-minded!”

            “Queen is right,” said Fox. “It is important to remember the past, but you must also understand the impacts of your actions on the future.”

            Oracle set her hands over her chest and pleaded to Shadow Akira. “Think about what your actions are doing to these people, Akira. . . Leaving the world like this isn’t helping any of them! That politician can’t change anything if no one is thinking for themselves!”

            “And besides, if he’s ignoring you, don’t you think that there might be something wrong with the way things are right now? You have to see the truth, Akira!” implored Noir.

            Seeing that his actions had the opposite effect than the one he’d intended only served to aggravate the shadow further. His eyebrows twitched, his face twisted into a firm scowl, and the tension within him seemed like it could burst free at any moment. Still, he tried to maintain his calm tone as he spoke to them. “It is fine that you think so. . . T-The unenlightened say such awful things, after all.”

            “You can’t just deny what we’re saying because we’re ‘unenlightened’!” shouted Mona. “What’s it going to take to get you to understand that things have to change?”

            “I have nothing to say to you. You don’t know the tragedy that change will bring. . . But you shall see with time. Farewell, Phantom Thieves,” he said, before fading away yet again. As he did so, the road before them started to stretch and grow longer as supports built up from the floor, until eventually, the route to their next destination had been forged.

            “That was about as productive as any of our previous meetings with him have been. . .” Queen let out a resigned sigh. “Nonetheless, we can see that our road has been elongated. Let’s head back for the day, yeah?”

            “Yeah. Besides, I don’t feel comfortable being here when it’s stormy,” said Mona, looking to the troubled skies above once again before turning back into a van.

            Fox nodded. “Let us hope that Akira is in higher spirits by tomorrow when we return to this place.”            

            “Akira. . . Please try to cheer up,” pleaded Oracle to no one in particular before climbing into the van with the rest of her friends.

 

 

**Group Chat:** Akira Salvation Squad

            Ryuji: _He’s asleep. We can talk now, guys!_

            Ryuji: _How’d investigating the Palace go?_

            Makoto: _We made progress, but Akira’s shadow is being as difficult as ever. His cognitions have apparently taken the form of these ‘Books of Gospel.’ We have to find all the books in an area to progress further._

            Ryuji: _Sounds weird. I’ll leave it to you guys to understand it!_

            Yusuke: _Your insight and wisdom is invaluable as always, Ryuji._

            Ryuji: _Shut it, Inari._

            Haru: _That’s not the only important thing we found out today. Apparently, whenever Akira feels like his world is falling apart in the real world, it starts to actually fall apart inside his Palace. . ._

            Ryuji: _Whoa, that sounds rough. . . I hope I kept him in high spirits for you guys._

            Ann: _You did. Morgana wanted us to thank you._

            Ryuji: _Whoa, seriously? Can I get that in writing?_

            Ann: _Speaking of Akira being in a bad mood, what was all that about you dumping Akira earlier, Futaba? I didn’t wanna ask since we were in the Palace, but. . ._

Yusuke: _I was curious of that as well, actually._

            Ryuji: _Whoa, you dumped Akira!?_

Futaba: _Like I said, I didn’t dump anybody! (_ _≧Д≦_ _)_

Futaba: _He just sent me a text after school saying he wanted to hang out, and I turned him down! I couldn’t exactly say yes when we were going to investigate his Palace!_

            Futaba: _I guess he just took it the wrong way. . ._

Haru: _Aww, Futaba. . . Is there anything I can do to help?_

            Futaba: _Not that I can think of. . . But thanks, Haru._

Makoto: _It doesn’t surprise me that, given his current mental state, he would make that kind of assumption. Still, we need him to be in as good a mood as possible._

            Makoto: _Could you try explaining things to him? Without revealing what we’re trying to do, of course._

Futaba: _I’ll try. . . But I can’t promise I’ll do good._

            Futaba: _Are we still planning to infiltrate tomorrow? If so, we need to assign someone to Akira duty._

            Ann: _Leave it to me. I’d like a break after today anyway. Ryuji, kick the crap outta’ those shadows in my place, ‘kay?_

            Ryuji: _You got it, Panther. Then I’ll meet you guys at the subway station after school!_

Makoto: _Sounds like a plan. Goodnight, everyone._

            Haru: _Goodnight! I’ll see you all tomorrow!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting for another chapter! This update took a little longer than I wanted it to, but it's partially because I was working on another story over this week as well. You should look forward to reading that one as well! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

            Akira looked around and saw nothing but open sky surrounding him. When he looked down, he was on a small piece of land of indiscriminate origin, but he was very much alone in the abyss of clouds. “H-Hello?” he called, instinctively, even though he couldn’t see anything. Still, he looked desperately for a reply, as though a presence of any kind would do something to alleviate the anxiousness he felt.

            The reply he received offered him no such relief.  

            “No one will come,” said his own voice back to him from the abyss. Despite the strange scenario, Akira wasn’t dense; he knew it was his shadow, but even then he couldn’t see the origin of the sound. It seemed to echo at him from all angles, as though the sky itself was yelling at him.

            “What do you mean?” asked Akira, but he received no answer. “H-Hey!” he barked, trying to assert some dominance, but any confidence he mustered was quickly dashed as he heard the sound of cracking earth below him. The small piece he stood upon, his last bastion, started to crumble, the ground gradually turning into rubble as the cracks and crevasses inched toward him from the edges.

            “Your world has collapsed, Akira. . . And now, there’s nothing left,” said his own voice as the boy’s foothold started to give way entirely. The ground beneath him collapsed and he screamed while he cascaded alongside the rubble into the abyss of nothingness. The only sounds other than his yelling was the furious laughter of his shadow and the crackling of thunder in the distance.

            Akira sat up in a cold sweat, his scream carrying over from his dream as he thrashed about in his sheets. His movement tossed Morgana off the bed, and his yelling woke Ryuji who slept on the couch.

            “W-Whoa, Akira! What’s going on?” asked a groggy Ryuji as he leapt to his feet, assuming a fighting stance in his daze.

            “Ouch. . . What gives, Akira?” asked Morgana, a tad annoyed, but he quickly remembered the circumstances. A look of grave seriousness and concern descended over his feline features as he leapt back up to Akira’s side.

            His screaming had stopped at this point, but Akira’s chest still rose and fell frantically, his baggy clothes drenched in sweat. He brought a hand to his forehead and looked down, patting the bed around him to make sure it wasn’t falling apart. “Oh. . . Just a dream. . .” he muttered.

            “A dream. . .? Akira, are you okay?” asked Morgana.

            “Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” he said as he looked out the window. It was still dark outside, so it had to be pretty late. “Just a nightmare is all. . . Sorry for waking you two up.” Akira tried to maintain some aspect of calmness in his behavior, but in truth he was quite worried about the display he’d just given them. He was still trying to hide it from them, after all; if they caught wind of the fact that he’d lost his Persona, there would be no more Phantom Thieves . . . for him, at least. _Speaking of which, I still need to do something about that,_ he thought, though he had no idea how he was supposed to turn his shadow back into a Persona. He didn’t even know if he had the strength to do so.

            Ryuji didn’t seem at all convinced by his performance, though made an effort not to display that distrust openly. “Alright. . . I’m glad you’re okay. But if anything’s worrying you, it’s alright to talk about it.”

            “Thanks. . . Everything’s fine, though.”

            Ryuji regarded him with a piercing stare. “ _Anything,_ ” he said, with a bit more emphasis. He knew exactly what was wrong, of course, but he couldn’t just let Akira know that. He wanted Akira to come to him with it.

            “I-I get it,” said Akira, deflecting the comment. “Sorry for waking you guys. I’m gonna get back to sleep.” He buried himself in his sheets once again, rolling away from Ryuji.

            “Night,” said Ryuji, though a frown came to his face shortly after Akira turned away. “I wanna help you, man. . .” he muttered, but he didn’t pursue it any further. He nodded to Morgana, who nodded knowingly in return, and the two laid back down and went to sleep.

            Akira maintained his guise of restfulness, but in reality his mind was moving a mile a minute. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that he couldn’t just ignore his shadow forever; eventually, he was going to have to turn it back into Arsene, or when this break was over his fellow Phantom Thieves would know for sure that he had lost his Persona, and it would be impossible to avoid that confrontation. _I have to figure out how to change my shadow back into my persona. . . But how?_ He understood that shadows and Personas were the same thing, but for some reason, thinking about any action he could take to make his shadow a Persona again made his head hurt. . .

            Nonetheless, a stark realization came to him after what felt like an eternity of intense thought. _Futaba met her shadow, right? And turned it into her Persona? I can talk to her about it!_

            His brow furrowed. _But she doesn’t want to talk to me. . . And she’s the last person I want to tell I’ve lost my Persona. Maybe I can ask her inconspicuously. . ._

            Perhaps it was simply to reassure himself, but he wound up nodding to himself. _That’s right. I’ll just ask her what it was like meeting her shadow. She has no reason to suspect me, after all. . ._ A small smile brought itself to his lips and he nestled himself deeper into the sheets of his bed. _Everything will be back to normal in no time._

            He ignored the near-constant nagging anxiousness at the back of his skull and shut his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

 

            “Kurusu, wake up!” shouted an annoyed teacher from the front of the classroom. He staggered awake, and did his best to ignore the hushed giggling of the amused students around the room. “If you doze off one more time, I’ll have to speak with your guardian about it!”

            “Yes, sir. . .” His response was unenthusiastic at best – Akira wasn’t known for his respect of authority figures and obedience – but this time, Akira did mean it. He didn’t want Sojiro getting involved with anything at school. Not when he had so much already on his plate, what with getting his Persona back and keeping his secrets from the other Phantom Thieves. _I need to find a way to talk to Futaba. . ._

            He pulled out his phone, keeping a keen eye on the teacher so he could hide it in the event he needed to. _I can just text her,_ he thought, before sending her a message.

            Akira: _Hey._

            Futaba: _Hey!_

            She responded uncharacteristically fast, but Akira had no reason to complain about that. _I should make some small talk before asking my question. It’ll look less suspicious that way,_ he thought, thinking back to some of his speaking lessons with Yoshida about how to hide a request through unrelated conversation. He ignored the guilt that came with the remembrance and pressed on.

            Akira: _Are you feeling alright? If what you said yesterday is true, you’re pretty busy. You shouldn’t work too hard._

            Futaba: _Oh, don’t mind me! I’m not working too hard at all. It’s **you** that shouldn’t be working too hard!_

            The reply was odd, but Akira was in an odd place himself, so he didn’t note anything different about it.

            Futaba: _What’re you up to? Aren’t you in class?_

            Akira: _You know me. I’m not very good at paying attention for long periods of time. Plus, you’re pretty fun to talk to, so I consider this a worthwhile activity._

Futaba: _You flatter me!_

            Akira felt a smile rise to his face as the conversation progressed. It felt really nice to be able to talk to Futaba in a semi-normal way after what had happened over the past couple of days.  But still, the purpose of this conversation wasn’t just to have fun. He needed intel. _I can’t really think of a way to segue into it. . . Guess I’ll just ask flat-out._

            Akira: _Say, I was wondering. You got your Persona in a pretty weird way, didn’t you?_

            Futaba: _Huh? What do you mean?_

            Akira: _Most of us did something along the lines of tearing off a mask, but if I remember right, you turned your shadow directly into your Persona. What was that like?_

            _Futaba is typing. . ._

            She didn’t respond for a long while. Akira stared at the notification as she typed, though he had to hide his phone several times when the teacher turned around so as to avoid the vindication of Sojiro. _What’s taking her so long? Could she have already figured out?_ Dread settled in his stomach until, finally, her message came in.

            Futaba: _It was kind of weird._

            _That’s all she had to say? She was typing forever. . ._ He grit his teeth and pressed his phone’s keyboard frantically. _I need more than that. . ._

            Akira: _What did it feel like when you did it? Did you do anything specific?_

            Futaba: _Well, you guys have always said that Personas and Shadows are the same thing, right? I guess that’s what it felt like._

            Futaba: _My shadow was a side of me that I didn’t want to acknowledge, when I didn’t want to face the truth about my mother’s death. I just wanted to curl up and die inside that pyramid. . ._

            Futaba: _But my Shadow kept trying to show me the truth about who I was. And when I faced that truth, it was like an immediate one eighty. My Shadow just kinda instantly became my Persona. . . I guess I tamed it in a way?_

Akira nodded at the explanation, despite the fact that it wasn’t a face to face conversation. It made sense, in a way. Shadows are the sides of people that they don’t want to see, so if you take away the “don’t want to see” part, it becomes a Persona. Or at least, it should in theory. _How come I didn’t think of that myself?_

            Futaba: _Why did you wanna know?_

            He came up with a flimsy explanation, but it didn’t really matter. There was no possible way she could know he had a Shadow himself.

            Akira: _It was just kind of interesting, is all. I was wondering if people knew they had Shadows if they could turn them into Personas themselves. That would make things a lot easier, right?_

Futaba: _Yeah, I guess. There’d at least be less shadows for us to fight that way._

            Akira sighed with relief as he defused the situation (or, at least, thought he defused the situation). _She doesn’t seem to suspect anything, and I got all the info I needed. A successful plan._ He allowed himself an arrogant smile, one that he hadn’t felt upon his lips in a long time, before quickly masking his behavior so the teacher didn’t suspect anything. He was content letting things end there, but he got yet another message from Futaba.

            Futaba: _Hey. . ._

            Futaba: _You would tell me if something was wrong, right?_

            The joy of a job well done was quickly replaced with concern as he read her reply. A thousand possibilities started running through his head as he thought about why she could be asking, what she could’ve seen or heard, how she could’ve figured out, but none of the possibilities bore fruit in his mind. _No,_ he thought, silencing his internal monologue. _There’s no possible way she could know. I’m the only one who’s seen my shadow, and I haven’t told anyone. . . She’s just concerned about me._ Even though it was flimsy logic, he dismissed his worries and sent back a reply.

            Akira: _Of course. You’re my girlfriend._

            Something stung in his heart as he sent the message, for several reasons. For one, he was blatantly lying to her despite saying he’d tell her if something was wrong. And two, as much as he wanted to, he wasn’t certain that he could call her his girlfriend right now. They hadn’t spoken on an intimate level in almost a week, and it felt like they were deliberately avoiding one another from time to time. . . In fact, he didn’t know why he sent it at all. Perhaps it was to see if she would take issue with it, or perhaps it was to reassure the notion to himself. He wasn’t sure. But nonetheless, she sent a reply.

            Futaba: _Right. Of course you would._

            The concerns of the previous instant were replaced by the elation of the present. She hadn’t shot down that she was his girlfriend, which meant she still wanted to be in a relationship! And to top it off, she didn’t press further with any more questions or concerns. He celebrated for a brief moment before sending her another message with considerably more enthusiasm.

            Akira: _Well, I should go. The teacher’s threatening to get Sojiro involved, and you know how that’d go. . ._

            Futaba: _Ouch. You’d better start paying attention._

Akira: _Yeah. Talk to you later._

            He paused for a moment.

            Akira: _I love you._

            Futaba: _Talk to you later!_

            And with that, their string of messages ended. A sigh of utter delight escaped Akira as he rested his chin atop his palm, ignoring the droning of the teacher in front of him. Today was going pretty great, by the past week’s standards. He’d gotten Futaba back (somehow), and now he knew exactly how he was going to tackle his shadow. _I’ll go into Mementos, and when he shows up, I’ll face him. . . That’s the only way I can do this._

            Ann, from the seat in front of Akira, reached for her phone, but he certainly didn’t notice. He was too busy relishing in his successes.

 

 

            Futaba clutched her phone tightly to her chest for a few moments after her conversation with Akira ended. He’d done the thing she’d dreaded him doing most; he’d lied to her. _“Of course,”_ he’d said, lying through his teeth. It made her sick to think about. “Akira. . .” she said as she choked back tears. “Please don’t lie to me. . .”

            In spite of this, she calmed herself and shook her head; there was work to be done. She opened the group chat.

 

**Group Chat:** Salvation Squad of Akira

            Futaba: _Guys! Urgent news! I need to talk to everybody!_

            Makoto: _We’re in class. . . I hope it’s important._

            Ryuji: _It’s Futaba, so she’s prolly gonna say somethin’ like ‘I’m bored’ or ‘My game’s broken!’_

Yusuke: _I wouldn’t tease her just yet. Recent events have impacted her the most drastically, after all._

            Futaba: _Many thanks, Inari! Your support is appreciated._

            Futaba: _And screw you, Ryuji! This is actually a big deal!_

            Ann: _What’s going on? Is it you-know-who related?_

            Makoto: _Akira is sitting right behind you, isn’t he? Make sure he can’t read these messages!_

            Ann: _I will, I will. He seems like he’s daydreaming anyway._

            Haru: _It’s strange to be talking about him when he’s so close by. . . I feel kind of bad now._

            Yusuke: _Remember, we’re doing this for his own good._

            Futaba: _Guys! You’re getting waaaay off topic!_

            Makoto: _Right, of course. Do tell us, Futaba._

            Futaba: _Akira just texted me. At first he was just asking how I was doing, so I thought it was normal, but then he asked me about my Shadow._

            Ann: _Your shadow?_

            Futaba: _Yeah. More specifically, how my shadow turned into a Persona. . . I think Akira might be trying to turn HIS Shadow back into a Persona._

            Ryuji: _While we’re on the topic, I should prolly say Akira was havin’ a pretty bad nightmare last night. He woke up screamin’ and sweatin’. . . He wouldn’t tell me anything about what it was about, though._

            Ryuji: _I bet that’s got somethin’ to do with it._

            Ann: _But couldn’t this be a good thing for us? If Akira faces his shadow of his own accord and turns it back into a Persona, that would mean the problem’s solved._

            Haru: _I don’t know. . . He might do something dangerous to try and get it to change back._

            Yusuke: _Not only that, but simply because he changes it back into his Persona does not mean his stance on Yaldabaoth will change. He still thought this way even with a Persona._

Yusuke: _I fear more direct intervention, in the form of a change of heart, might be necessary._

            Ryuji: _Oh man, now you got me worried. . . Will he even change his mind if we **do** change his heart? _

            Makoto: _I hadn’t considered that possibility. It could be that, even when his distorted desires are gone, he still won’t want to help us. . ._

            Makoto: _Worse still, he may not even get his Persona back at all. It’s not like all the people we’ve changed the hearts of have gotten Personas immediately after._

Makoto: _We haven’t really thought through this plan as much as we should have, have we?_

            Haru: _It wouldn’t be very ‘Phantom Thief’ of us to think through things so intensely._

            Yusuke: _You seem to be in an awfully good mood about this, Haru._

            Haru: _I wouldn’t say I’m in a good mood. . . It’s more like I have faith in Akira._

            Haru: _I know he wouldn’t do something like make a deal with Yaldabaoth if he didn’t have a very good reason for it. He just isn’t that kind of person._

            Haru: _And even if we don’t venture into his Palace with the express goal of changing his heart, we’re at least learning more about him, right? We can use that knowledge to figure out why he’s acting like he is and talk to him about it! I know he’ll get his Persona back and help us if we do!_

            Ryuji: _. . . Whoa._

            Ryuji: _Is this the same Haru?_

            Ann: _Ryuji! That’s mean!_

            Haru: _No, it sort of was a silly thing to say. . . But that really is how I feel._

            Ryuji: _No, I didn’t think it was silly! More like . . . crazy insightful. I just didn’t think Haru would be the one gettin’ me all psyched up to keep goin’!_

            Ryuji: _Man, now I really wanna hit the Palace!_

            Haru: _I’m happy to have helped!_

            Makoto: _I must say, I agree with Ryuji. I think we should move forward with that in mind, and most of all, we should have faith in Akira! If we change his heart, I’m sure we can talk to him heart-to-heart about all this._

            Futaba: _Alright. I’m still a bit worried, but I have to have faith in Akira too! You’re today’s Akira-sitter, right Ann? Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid!_

            Ann: _Yep, I won’t! Meeting adjourned?_

            Haru: _Meeting adjourned!_

           

           

            Akira stood to leave the classroom almost instantly as the bell rang, immediately taking steps toward the door. _I have to go to Mementos. . . I’ll show that shadow what I’m made of._ A strange determination Akira hadn’t felt in quite some time started to manifest in his chest, but its growth, as well as Akira’s movements, were stopped by a hand around his wrist.

            “Whoa, Akira! What’s got you in such a rush?” Ann said with a wide smile, though her grip on his arm was surprisingly tight. The smile didn’t reach her eyes – she looked more like a worried person pretending to be happy than a happy one.

            “Oh, uh. . . I had something I wanted to do after school today,” he said dismissively. He was dismissive partially because he really _did_ have something he wanted to do, but partially because the last time he’d wanted to hang out Ann had shrugged him off. He was still a little bitter.

            Ann dismissed his suggestion with a shake of her head. “That’s no good. You can’t go somewhere today! I have a photoshoot, and you’re an important member of my fan club, remember? I can’t do it without you!”

            Akira cocked an eyebrow, his bitterness fading as his expression softened. “You . . . need my help?”

            “Yes! Precisely,” she said with a nod as she released her iron grip on his arm. “I can’t do it without someone to cheer me on, after all! And don’t worry, I’m not planning on making you work without rewarding you! We can go do something fun after. Your choice.”

            “. . . Really?” It wasn’t an unusual request, and he’d been on this sort of outing with Ann countless times in the past, but it confused him that she was asking him now. _Wasn’t she avoiding me yesterday?_ There was a nagging suspicion at the back of his head, but as he had done often as of late, he shot it down within instants of it arising. _Of course she wasn’t. She was just busy yesterday. . . If she wants to hang out today, we should._

            _Wait. . . I can’t._ His brow furrowed as he thought for a few moments, leaving Ann to watch his contemplation in silence. _I have to go to Mementos today. The longer my shadow exists, the worse things will get. . . I should get rid of it while I can,_ he thought, resolve building in him with every second. _I should get rid of it. . ._

            He remembered his shadow laughing at him. His shadow’s jeering comments, his hateful smirk, and his terrifying eyes. He remembered it dissolving into a puddle with the sole intention of changing forms and killing him, and he remembered how he was powerless to stop it. Suddenly, that resolve felt very, very small.

            “Uhh, Akira? You okay?” She poked his shoulder, which partially shook him from his thoughts.

            “Y-Yeah. . . I’m fine. Listen, I. . .”

            “Hmm?”

            “. . . Nothing. Now that I think about it, that thing I wanted to do isn’t that important at all. . .” A small smile rose to his lips. _I’ll . . . deal with my shadow later. Yeah. . ._

            “Awesome! We should get going now then! What do you wanna talk about on the train?” she asked, casually leading him out of the classroom as he followed readily.

            A certain black haired boy watched them from within the window with his piercing yellow eyes. A scowl crept to his face.

 

            “Now that I think about it, the weather in here is a bit different today. . . Doesn’t it seem almost _too_ clear?” asked Mona as he looked to the sky. Normally, the whole sky was filled to the brim with golden clouds, but the clouds were only below them today. Above spanned a beautiful auburn sky that felt so vast that it might swallow the entire island as though it was nothing.

            “Akira must be in a particularly good mood today. I wonder what could have caused that,” said Noir as she walked alongside him.

            “Oracle was texting him earlier today, right? That’s probably what’s got him all cheered up,” said Skull.

            “I-I don’t know about that. . . He was sort of just asking me for information,” said Oracle sheepishly.

            “Whatever the cause, we should be thankful for it,” said Fox. “Though I must say, this world is much prettier with clouds. One color for the whole sky is far too overwhelming.”

            “Leave it to Fox. . .” Skull sighed and took a look around. “Still, Ogikubo, huh? What’s Akira’s shadow got us doing here?”

            “He’s probably got a lot of memories in this place. No doubt he’s expecting us to find another one of his books of gospel, too. . .” Oracle joined him in surveying the streets, but none of the buildings seemed to stand out one way or another. “Where do you think it could be?”

            A flash of inspiration struck Skull. “If it’s a place he’s got lots of memories of, then it’s gotta be that ramen shop! We eat there all the time!”

            “Nice going, Skull! Lead us there,” said Mona.

            Skull grinned and started weaving them through the back streets to reach the ramen shop he and Akira frequented.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back
> 
> I owe everyone a huge apology! Everyone hates dead fics and I became a dead fic writer for a while, leaving not one but two of my works unfinished! Truth be told, while I was working on this, I hit a really busy time in my life, so that's what pushed my work off in the first place. Then, when I came back and had time to write on all of it, all my files had been corrupted and I'd lost everything I'd been working on and all my synopses, flowcharts, summaries, etc. I got fed up and stopped writing as a result. But hey hey hey, I'm back and at it again. I didn't feel good about leaving this unfinished, especially after all the kind words I've gotten and all the kudos that still roll in from time to time. I appreciate them still to this day, and I guarantee you, I've set up a schedule for this work and my other work (which will also be getting an update soon). I hope you all find it in your hearts to forgive me for leaving this for so long. 
> 
> But you ain't here for sap.
> 
> ya here for story.
> 
> and im gonna give ya a story. 
> 
> Also, to anyone new reading, hello! I hope you continue enjoying the fic. You should check out my other works, which is some AkiraxFutaba stuff. It's all good. (also, i will continue referring to "ren amamiya" as akira for the time being. amamiya here we go again)

            Ryuji arrived at the front of the ramen restaurant a full five seconds before his friend did, slowing from a sprint to a trot until, finally, he stopped. He turned to face his arriving friend with a devilish grin on his face, before holding his arms out wide in triumph while he panted. “I win again. You’re payin’ today, pal!”

            Akira staggered to a stop, resting his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. “I’m gonna win . . . one day. . .” he insisted.

            “I know. That dedication is why I run with you! That, and the fact that we’re best buds.” He laughed before leaning forward and slugging Akira’s shoulder. “But man, you’re outta shape. We used to be neck and neck! You’re playin’ too many games with Futaba, dude.”

            “Yeah, I know. . . I gotta hit the gym. But I don’t think it’s fair to compare a casual runner like me to an award winning professional like you,” jeered Akira with a light hearted smile. “The fact that I did well at all is pretty cool, right?”

            Ryuji cracked up. “You never miss a chance to show off, do ya?”

            “I’d argue with you, but you’re probably right,” he said, regaining his composure and settling his hands in his pockets.

            “Hey, it might not be a bad thing. Maybe that’s why you gotta girlfriend and I don’t.” He sneered as he jokingly ribbed Akira with his elbow. “C’mon, let’s eat. What’re you havin’?”

            “The same as always,” said Akira as he reached toward the door and held it open for Ryuji.

            “Hell yeah! Ain’t nothin’ better than this place’s specialty bowl. Let’s go get some!”

            The teenagers ordered their food and started chowing down, ignoring the looks of salarymen and other adults who thought of their rambunctiousness as annoying like they weren’t even there. They didn’t care about anyone else’s disapproval; they were just two kids having fun.

            Ryuji slurped up some noodles. “This is delicious. . . Say, wanna have another race? Whoever finishes their bowl first has to buy the other seconds!”

            Akira chuckled. “With a challenge like that, I might as well just buy them. The only thing you do faster than running is eating.”

            “If you’re offerin’ me seconds, I’ll take em!”

            “I wasn’t.”

            “Damn. It was worth a shot,” he said before cracking a grin and chowing down. He finished his bowl in record time, while Akira was still only half way through his. As always, with nothing to eat, he started thinking. He looked up to the ceiling, and a contemplative sigh escaped his lips. “This is the life, huh?”

            “Hmm?” Akira offered his friend a curious glance as he ate.

            “Doin’ this kinda thing every day, with the people we really care about. . . We’ve been through a lot, but overall we lead pretty great lives, huh?” Ryuji beamed toward the ceiling with something similar to pride in his gaze before scratching the back of his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get all sappy on you.”

            Akira looked down into his bowl of ramen. “No, I feel the same way. . . Life in Tokyo has been really amazing for me. Meeting you and the others, becoming a Phantom Thief. . . It’s been a wild ride.” A wide smile panned across his face. “It makes me wish that things could stay like this forever, y’know?”

            Ryuji sighed. “Yeah, I know. Gettin’ old sucks. Maybe one day we’ll be the shitty adults we’re takin’ down!”

            “That’ll be the day,” said Akira with a wistful tone to his voice. However, as he sat in thought, slowly, his brow furrowed. “But . . . Maybe things don’t have to change,” said Akira. “We’re not going anywhere, right?”

            “Huh?” Ryuji leaned forward with surprise. “Is your brain workin’ okay? I mean, I’d love that, but things’re gonna change no matter what we do.”

            “Well yeah, stuff like us getting older. . . But the Phantom Thieves don’t have to go anywhere.” Akira had a steely resolve in his gaze, like he’d made this decision long ago. “I don’t ever want things to change more than they have to.”

            “. . .” Ryuji sat back in his chair, clasping his arms behind his head. “Well, I guess when you put it like that, I agree with ya’. I wanna stay a Phantom Thief forever too.”

            “Right.” Akira nodded, before turning to Ryuji with a gravely serious expression. “. . . It might sound strange, but as your leader, I promise you I’m never going to let the Phantom Thieves fall apart.”

            The blonde boy’s eyes widened at the sudden change in tone. “Whoa, don’t gotta get all dramatic on me. . . I don’t even know why you’re sayin’ all this stuff. But I’m happy to hear it I guess.” He slugged Akira’s shoulder. “To pay ya back, _I_ promise as your partner and first mate that I’ll never let our friendship fall apart. Deal?”

            “. . .” Akira chuckled, his composure breaking.

            “Hey, what the hell? You can say sappy shit but when I do it’s funny?” he said with a smirk.

            “No, no, it was the first mate thing. Your persona’s influencing you too much.”

            “Guess that was kinda’ tacky. But I meant it!”

            Akira laughed once more, a warm smile having replaced the darker expression he’d held just a moment ago. “Yeah, I’m glad you said it. I’ll hold you to that.”

            “Don’t worry about it! Not like you had anything to worry about in the first place. Friends for life!”

            “Friends for life,” he responded.

            “Now. . .” Ryuji rubbed his hands together. “I’m feelin’ more ramen. Are you suuuure you don’t wanna buy me seconds?”

            “You know what? Sure.”

            “Hell yeah!”

 

            The vision ended and the Phantom Thieves returned to the interior of Akira’s Palace, outside the ramen shop carved from marble. They were all left slack jawed, staring in awe at what they’d seen. No one moved.

            Until Oracle reeled on Skull to throttle him like there was no tomorrow.

            “What – the – hell – were – you – thinking!?” she said between shakes. “How could you say all that stupid stuff to him, numbskull!?”

            “W-w-wait, Oracle, calm down, calm down!” He freed himself from her iron grip, holding his hands up to proclaim his innocence. “I had no idea he was talking about all this Yaldabaoth stuff!” 

            “Skull’s in the right this time,” said Mona, paws crossed as he stood, deep in thought. “There was no way for him to know what he said would influence Akira so deeply. Assuming this conversation took place _after_ Akira made his deal with Yaldabaoth, there was nothing he could do anyway.”

            “Yeah, but – but!” Oracle pouted, but realized she had to concede. “I . . . guess you’re right. I probably woulda’ done the same thing in your shoes. . .”

            “There’s no need to be upset, Oracle,” said Fox, setting a comforting hand upon Oracle’s shoulder. Looking back on it in hindsight, I imagine all of us said things to this effect that influenced Akira’s decision to make his deal. I wonder how much of this is my fault. . .” 

            Queen shook her head. “Guys, there’s no point blaming ourselves. Even if we’re upset about it, this is a positive development. We’re getting to some really important memories of Akira’s. . . That means we must be getting closer to the treasure, right?”

            Mona nodded. “I might not be as good at navigating as Oracle, but I know treasure when I smell it. We’re closer for sure.”

            “Well, that’s good, I guess. . . I still feel stupid as hell, though.” Skull kicked the ground.

            “That’s a good thing. It shows self-awareness,” said Queen.

            “. . . Wow. Not even a minute ‘till I’m gettin’ ribbed again.” A long and exaggerated sigh escaped his lips as the other Phantom Thieves mustered weak laughs. It wasn’t a strong one, but it was at least a morale boost, one they desperately needed. It brought spirits high enough for them to continue their exploration with just a little less doubt nibbling at them.

 

            Ann looked up at Akira as he chowed down on his parfait, trying to size him up without him noticing. The shoot was over, and now they sat at the sweets store they frequented in the underground mall. This was far from the first time they’d hung out like this, but this time, Ann was far more on edge. Knowing what was going on in Akira’s head, it was just a little hard to be casually comfortable with him, even if she wanted to. _Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. . ._ she thought. _This’ll all be over soon. I just have to be a good Akirasitter for today and then it’s back to business._ She sighed and started digging into her plate of crepes.

            “Why the sigh?” Akira fiddled with his spoon, spinning it in his hand, completely unawares as to what was going on. Normally, he might’ve been a tad suspicious of her behavior, but now he was just happy to be spending time with a friend. Life had been pretty lonely for him under Yaldabaoth’s reign, so over these past few days, having people to hang out with was a very welcome respite, even if his shadow was terrorizing him.

            “Oh, nothing. I just hope the shoot went well today. . .”

            Akira offered a reassuring smile. “I’m sure it did. You’ve been giving your all to your modeling work, haven’t you? So you’ve got nothing to worry about. Don’t stress out about it during relaxation time.”

            Ann smiled. Even if Akira _did_ currently have a shadow and a palace, he was at least still a good friend. “Thanks, Akira. I guess I do deserve this break. . . I haven’t had crepes in soooo long,” she said casually as she shoveled a forkful into her mouth. With all this Yaldabaoth and Akira business, no one had time to relax, certainly, so the statement was true. But that was the problem.

            Akira froze.

            “. . . You haven’t had crepes in a while?”

            “Yeah. I’ve just been super busy lately,” she said with a giggle.

            “. . . I see. I figured you’d make time for them, since they’re your favorite. . .” He quickly resumed his casual mannerisms, and Ann opened her mouth to respond, but no sounds registered in Akira’s head. He was quickly thrust into his own thoughts.

            _She said she hasn’t had crepes in a while, but she said she was going to get crepes with friends yesterday. She shrugged me off to get crepes,_ he thought. His brow furrowed, but this was no time to get caught up in bitterness. _But she said she hasn’t had them in a while. But she said she got crepes with friends. . ._

            “Uh, Akira? You listening?”

            Akira wasn’t stupid. He kept his suspicions and concern on the down low, but he was fairly certain something was up now. He ignored whatever her question was and launched into one of his own. “Actually, didn’t you say you went to get some yesterday?” Akira was versed in interrogation and questioning tactics. Attacking an alibi was always a good place to start.

            Ann blinked. _Oh, crap! I forgot about my excuse!_ She laughed flightily, trying to dismiss the question. “Yeah, I did, but for me, a day is a _loooong_ time without crepes. I’m always craving more! Mm!” She stuffed a large forkful into her mouth, really playing up her enjoyment and longing for the crepes. She hoped her stuffed face and ridiculous expression distracted from the sweat forming on her brow.

            “Uh huh. . .” Akira laughed, shaking his head. “You really are an addict.” He looked down, but beneath his shaggy hair and the frames of his glasses, he sized her up with piercing grey eyes. She wasn’t getting off that easy. “So, who were you hanging out with yesterday anyway? Anybody I’d know?”

            “Oh, nobody really important. Just some girls from our class.”

            “If they’re from our class, why wouldn’t I know them?”

            Ann swallowed hard, and not just because of all the crepes and whipped cream she was stuffing her face with nervously. “Uh, I guess you would. . . It was, uh, Misako and Haruki. The two that sit next to each other in the front!” She made a mental note to ask those girls to corroborate her story later.

            “Mmhm. . .” Akira didn’t let on that he was actively suspicious, controlling his casual façade like always, but he could’ve sworn he saw at least one of those girls leaving the school yesterday. _Seems a little odd that, if they were hanging out, they wouldn’t leave together. . . Especially given what a rush Ann was in to leave._ “Well, I hope you had fun.”

            “I did!” She giggled, taking any opportunity she could to try and dismiss his concerns. All things considered, this was probably among Ann’s best acting performances in her entire life, but it wasn’t quite good enough. Akira knew something was up. They continued dining in peace and casual conversation, but Akira was more involved with his thoughts than the discussion.

            _Ann is obviously hiding something from me, that’s a fact. We’ve known each other long enough that I can tell when she’s lying. The question is, what about?. . ._ He gripped his spoon tightly. _It’s possible they’ve been going to Mementos without telling me. Futaba was being suspicious over text that one day. . . though, that wouldn’t explain why Ryuji wanted to hang out. If they were going, they’d want to bring him with, right?_

Akira’s eyes shot wide open.

            _Futaba wouldn’t hang out with me yesterday, or today. Or indefinitely, for that matter._

_Then, that same day, Ryuji insisted quite fervently I spend time with him._

_Ann shrugged me off without a second thought yesterday, but wouldn’t take no for an answer today._

_They’re . . . watching me._

            Akira couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid. He stood up, the shock clearly displayed on his face as he grabbed his bag and started to hurry off.

            Ann widened her eyes. “A-Akira! Where are you going?!”

            Even in his state of panic, Akira knew he had to play this off. “I completely forgot I had a shift with Sojiro today! We’ll have to continue this later, or I’ll be in big trouble!” He feigned the concern he would have for missing work, but his face was quickly curling into a scowl. _They’ve been setting me up this entire time. . . I don’t believe it._

 

            Inside the Palace, the Phantom Thieves were simply casually progressing to the next memory they needed to watch. They assumed that, if they saw all of them, they’d get to the treasure, and maybe figure out some way to talk Akira down. Things were going well, believe it or not; the deeper they got, the more convinced everyone is that they could get this over with.

That is, until the sky turned red. A booming voice pierced the air, and every Phantom Thief jumped abruptly at the sound.

            Shadow Akira’s cacophonous voice shot through their ear drums. “We have intruders! Every shadow, on high alert! I want them caught, I want them detained! Get them now!”

            Oracle scanned their surroundings almost immediately. She’d been put in the hot seat before, and even as frazzled as she was, her job took priority. “G-Guys. . . This isn’t good. Shadows galore all around us. They’re swarming the entire Palace. . . The security level has increased dramatically!”

            “How bad is it!?” called Skull, scanning their surroundings.

            “You don’t wanna know!” she responded.

            Mona grit his teeth. “What happened? You don’t think Ann let him onto us, do you?”

            Queen shook her head. “Right now, it doesn’t matter. We should get back for today, before there’s too many shadows for us to do anything about!”

            Mona transformed, and everyone piled in. Queen slammed on the gas like never before. “Hang on guys, this is gonna get bumpy!”

            The Phantom Thieves braced themselves for a chaotic ride as their van started barreling through the streets of Akira’s palace, occasionally plowing into and over shadows. They pressed against the windows of buildings, piled up on roads, even jumped onto the top of the van. Queen’s defensive driving was enough to get them through most of it, but the tension was wearing thin on everyone’s minds as more and more shadows seemed to show up with every moment.

            “The streets are absolutely teeming with them. . .” said Fox in awe from within the van, one hand on his katana, poised to act.

            “My sensors can hardly detect them all at this point. There’s so many. . .” said Oracle, hands wrapped around her knees, utter dejection written across every part of her body.

            “Don’t worry, we’re almost to the exit!” called Queen from the driver’s seat. Noir was leaning out the passenger’s window, blasting any shadows that blocked the way with her grenade launcher. Sweat formed on her brow from the tension and exertion as she tried to pave a way.

            “I-I’m almost out of ammo!” she called as she loaded her last few rounds into her weapon.

            “Almost . . . there. . .” Mona’s voice spoke. He was the most beaten and battered out of any of them, subject to all of this with no shelter at all. Shadow residue stained his sides, and his engine sputtered with his own exhaustion.

            There was one last wall of shadows for them to break through, and they’d be on the grand road out of here and toward the exit. It loomed in front of them, a teeming mass of shadows trying to prevent their progress with manpower alone.

            “Wh-whoa! Queen, tell me you aren’t gonna drive into that thing!”

            Queen floored it. “I told you it was gonna get bumpy!”

            In just a few seconds, they slammed into it. Like a bullet connecting with skin, the wall of shadows gave way before a huge hole burst in the makeshift barricade. Mona was slick and blackened by the remains of the shadows, and some of them clung to him with their claws as he drove through, but they’d made it. Queen didn’t let up, and before long, they’d left all the shadows behind them and arrived at the entrance.

            Mona returned to his true form as soon as possible, coughing on the floor. “Did you – bleh! Have . . . to drive so rough, Queen?”

            “S-Sorry, Mona, but . . . yeah, I think so,” she responded. “That was way too many shadows. Any slower, and we might’ve been goners. . .”

            “Yeah, what the hell’s up? It’s _never_ that chaotic, even on nights we send calling cards. How did the security level get so high?”

            “Y-you don’t think he figured us out, do you?. . .” asked Noir, her innocent voice giving form to the concern they all held within them.

            Fox, for the sake of morale, dismissed it.  “I’m . . . sure it’s nothing like that.”

            “No, there’s a pretty high chance of it,” said Mona. “If Akira were to find out there was a heist in progress, it would be completely unlike our previous targets. They’d never been to the Metaverse. It makes sense that, seeing as he was a Persona user, Akira’s thoughts would be more attuned to the shadows in his Palace. He must have gotten suspicious of us, maybe even figured us out.”

            “. . . Dammit.” Skull could do nothing but swear. “What do we do now?” he asked, desperation in his eyes, but his question was fairly fruitless. Everyone had that same exact desperation set into their face.

            “All we . . .” Oracle clenched her fists. “All we can do is keep going. We’ve come too far to give up now. . .”

            “How do we keep going if he knows!?” shouted Ryuji in frustration.

            “Calm down, everyone. We’re not hopeless. . . We have to get back to the real world and see what’s going on,” explained Mona. “If he hasn’t really found us out and is just suspicious of us, we can try and reduce those suspicions. Get him to jump to other conclusions. Just like in the past, if we influence him in the real world, we’ll influence his palace. All we have to do is calm him down.”

            “. . . Right. That’s a good plan, Mona. . .” said Noir, slightly uplifted, but sadness still very present in her tone. “We’ll just have to be extra careful around him, and try to ensure he isn’t suspicious. . .”

            “That’s right. For now, go along with everything he says, pretty much. Are we ready to get out of here?” asked Mona. “If he’s this suspicious of us, there’s a chance he’s already texting.”

            “That’s true. . . We gotta get out of here,” said Skull. He pulled out his phone, and together, they were transported out of the Metaverse.      

 

The black haired boy continued running toward Leblanc, his thoughts racing in his mind. He felt so betrayed, so angry, so upset. But still, something in him nagged at him, despite his overwhelming suspicions _Wait. Calm down, take a deep breath,_ he thought to himself as he dipped in and out of the back streets, trying to lose Ann in the event she was following him. _Just because there’s some correlation, doesn’t mean this is for certain. Acting hastily right now and potentially damaging things even more would be stupid. . ._

            He stood with his back to the wall inside an alley and took out his phone. _I should gather information before doing anything. Who can I text?. . ._ Regarding the affairs with his friends, the only people he could likely ask were fellow Phantom Thieves. So who to turn to?

            Ann and Ryuji were likely out of the question – they were directly involved with him, so the odds are if they are up to anything, they won’t tell him anything. Makoto was the same, in that case – she was too smart to let him onto anything if something was going on. Mona fell into that vein, too. Yusuke or Haru would be just odd enough that he could interrogate them properly without them catching on, but that oddness would also make it difficult to really segue into questioning them. There was really only one person he could turn to.

            _Futaba._ Just thinking the name plucked at his heartstrings. _Am I really going to interrogate my girlfriend? Am I really threatening her of conspiring against me?_

            _. . . I have to do this. At the very least, she’s my girlfriend. I know I can trust her._ He opened his messaging app and flicked to her name, preparing to send a text. _She wouldn’t lie to me. . . she wouldn’t._

            He started to compose a message.

            Akira: _Hey. Can we talk?_

            Several minutes passed. He started heading home at a more casual pace, each second bringing more gnawing doubt into his heart. _If she’s in the Metaverse, she won’t get this. . . Won’t reply. Maybe . . . no. It might just be a game. She could just be playing something. Yeah. . ._

            His phone buzzed. His heart beat a mile a minute, but he managed to scramble the composure to unlock his phone and read the text.

            Futaba: _Hey. Yeah, sure! What’s up?_

            Akira sighed with relief. _At the very least, she isn’t avoiding me. . ._

            Akira: _I don’t wanna talk about it over the phone. Can we discuss this in person? It’s kinda personal._

            _Futaba is typing. . ._

            Futaba: _Sure. Meet me at Leblanc?_

            Akira’s hopes were sailing by the second. _She didn’t reject me. . . That means she probably isn’t hiding anything, right? She couldn’t be._

Akira: _Yeah, definitely. I’ll be there soon._

            He stuffed his phone into his pockets and started walking briskly toward the café.

 

            Futaba sighed with relief as the other Phantom Thieves, Ann included, looked over her shoulder. “Okay. . . At least for the moment, he doesn’t seem suspicious.

            “I’m really sorry guys. . . I messed up my alibi,” said Ann regretfully. “I guess I was a crappy Akirasitter after all.”

            “Don’t worry about it, Ann-chan. . .” said Haru reassuringly. “We’ve still got a chance to recover. And besides, someone was likely to mess up eventually. . .”

            “I guess. . . Still, I’m not happy it was me.”

            “Either way,” said Mona, looking at Futaba with a dutiful expression that looked kind of out of place on his cat form. “You know what you have to do, right?”

            Futaba nodded. “I have to go . . . talk to Akira, and convince him we’re not doing anything.” Sorrow bit at her as she considered what lies she’d tell her boyfriend. _Is our relationship doomed to just be lie after lie?. . ._

            “That’s right. You’re our only chance at getting Akira back to normal right now, so we’re counting on you, Futaba.”

            “. . . Right.” She stood up. “I guess I should go now. . . I’ll talk to you guys later.”

            “Later, Futaba. Break a leg,” said Ryuji, with a reassuring, yet worried smile. It helped a little, but not a lot as Futaba turned to begin the trek back to Leblanc, bringing the confrontation between the two ever closer. Her alibi would have to be airtight, her explanations flawless to throw Akira off her tail at this point. But could she lie right to her boyfriend’s face like that? Lying over the phone hurt her enough, so she couldn’t imagine how hard lying to his face would be. . .       

            _But I have to. This is the only chance we have at getting Akira . . . getting my boyfriend back._ With a shaky resolve, Futaba prepared to do what she had to do.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I have a weekly update schedule in place and tons of time to write, so I'll keep em coming. Please be sure to check back soon!


End file.
